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Guido Enderis

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American journalist
Guido E. Enderis
Born(1874-09-03)September 3, 1874
Chicago, Illinois, US
DiedApril 25, 1948(1948-04-25) (aged 73)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
NationalitySwiss, American
CitizenshipUS
Occupationjournalist
Employers
Known forreporting from Germany (1914-1941)
Relatives
  • Henry W. Enderis (brother)
  • Dorothy Enderis (sister)

Guido Ernst Enderis (September 3, 1874 – April 25, 1948) was an American journalist and bureau chief for the Associated Press and The New York Times in Berlin. As one of the longest-serving American foreign correspondents stationed in Berlin at the onset of the Second World War, Enderis's career spanned from his arrival in 1914 as a foreign correspondent for the Germania-Herold to his forced departure in 1941.

Early life

Guido Enderis was born in Chicago to Swiss immigrant parents on September 3, 1874. He became interested in the newspaper business through his father, Henry, who worked for the Brumder publications in Milwaukee. Enderis’ brother, Henry W. Enderis, also joined the newspaper business and worked as a publisher for 20 years at the Lincoln Freie Press in Lincoln, Nebraska. Enderis started his career as a Milwaukee newspaperman. He worked at the old Milwaukee Free Press and also served on the Milwaukee Sentinel. In 1912, with Oscar H. Morris, another Milwaukee newspaperman, Enderis was the campaign manager for Lawrence McGreal (Lawrence McGreal was nominated for sheriff of Milwaukee County on the Democratic ticket at the Wisconsin primary elections held on September 3, 1912).

Foreign correspondent in Berlin

First World War

In 1914, Enderis went to Europe and settled in Berlin as a foreign correspondent for the Germania-Herold (a morning and evening daily newspaper in German in Milwaukee). On February 9, 1917, Enderis was appointed the European correspondent of the Associated Press in Berlin and replaced its previous bureau chief S. B. Conger (head of the Berlin bureau from 1910 to 1917).

Interwar years

After the First World War, Enderis became one of the last correspondents to stay in the Adlon Hotel, which unofficially served as the headquarters for American and British correspondents. Eventually, he was promoted to chief of the Associated Press Berlin bureau. Enderis returned to the US for several months in 1926 and was assigned to the Associated Press Washington staff. He resigned from the Associated Press in autumn 1928. Enderis was replaced by his colleague Louis P. Lochner who stayed as a chief of the Associated Press Berlin bureau until his return to the US in 1942 after his five months' internment in Germany. According to Louis Lochner, Enderis was 'exceedingly tight-lipped about his personal affairs' and there was no explanation given about Enderis' departure from the Associated Press. Later Lochner learned that Enderis had serious disagreements with the senior management in New York.

In 1928–1929, Enderis became the head of The New York Times bureau in Berlin. In 1930s', the core of the Enderis' Berlin team of The New York Times included Frederick T. Birchall, Otto Tolischus, Robert Crozier Long and C. Brooks Peters.

Second World War

In 1941, as his colleagues departed and Otto Tolischus was expelled from Germany (April 1940), Enderis was left as the only representative of The New York Times still reporting from Berlin. After Hitler's declaration of war against the US, Enderis was the only American reporter in Berlin not rounded up for internment. In December 1941 Enderis was allowed to remain in his hotel because of a bronchial infection, though he was not allowed to continue reporting for The New York Times from Berlin. Later, Nazi authorities allowed Enderis to leave Berlin and depart to Switzerland.

Later years

While in Bern, Switzerland, Enderis suffered a stroke and was brought back to the US in 1946. Enderis passed away at the age of 73 on April 25 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, following a long illness. He died at the home of his sister, Dorothy C. Enderis (Dorothy Enderis was a famous continuing education and recreation pioneer in Milwaukee).

Reputation and controversies

Enderis was known for his ambivalent views towards fascism in Germany. For instance, William L. Shirer noted his impressions of Enderis in his Berlin Diary (record from June 18, 1935):

‘Guido Enderis of The New York Times, aging in his sixties but sporting invariably a gaudy race-track suit with a loud red necktie, minding the Nazis less than most — a man who achieved the distinction once of working here as an American correspondent even after we got into the war.’

Further reading

References

  1. The Editor and Publisher, May 1, 1948, Vol. 81, Issue 19, p. 56.
  2. The Editor and Publisher, April 3, 1920, Vol. 52, Issue 44, p. 37.
  3. The Editor and Publisher, May 1, 1948, Vol. 81, Issue 19, p. 56.
  4. The Talking Machine World, New York, September 15, 1912, Vol. 8, No. 9, p. 7.
  5. Brumder, H. P. 1960. The Life Story of George and Henriette Brumder. United States: North American Press, p. 71.
  6. The Editor and Publisher, May 1, 1948, Vol. 81, Issue 19, p. 56.
  7. Enderis, Guido. "Emergency Passport Application". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  8. "S.B Conger, 58, Dies; War Correspondent," The New York Times, July 13, 1934, p. 17.
  9. The Editor and Publisher, September 15, 1923, Vol. 56, Issue 16, p. 14.
  10. The Editor and Publisher, May 1, 1948, Vol. 81, Issue 19, p. 56.
  11. The Editor and Publisher, October 30, 1926, Vol. 59, Issue 23, p. 44.
  12. Lochner, L. P. (1956). Always the Unexpected: A Book of Reminiscences, United States: Macmillan, p. 157.
  13. Lochner, L. P. (1956). Always the Unexpected: A Book of Reminiscences, United States: Macmillan, p. 157.
  14. Leff, L. 2005. Buried by the Times: the Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper, Cambridge University Press, p. 55-56.
  15. Leff, L. 2005. Buried by the Times: the Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper, Cambridge University Press, p. 55-65.
  16. Heinzerling, L., Herschaft, R. & Cooper, A. (2024), Newshawks in Berlin: The Associated Press and Nazi Germany. United States: Columbia University Press, p. 182-183.
  17. Heinzerling, L., Herschaft, R. & Cooper, A.(2024), Newshawks in Berlin: The Associated Press and Nazi Germany. United States: Columbia University Press, p. 182-183.
  18. Leff, L. 2005. Buried by the Times: the Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper, Cambridge University Press, p. 136.
  19. The Editor and Publisher, May 1, 1948, Vol. 81, Issue 19, p. 56.
  20. Stephens, Lela B. 1955.The Lady of the Lighted Schoolhouses. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.
  21. William L. Shirer, 1987, Berlin Diary. The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent, 1934-1941, New York, p. 41.
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