Editing Edna Ferber (section)

=== Importance of Jewish identity ===
Starting in 1922, Ferber began to visit Europe once or twice annually for thirteen or fourteen years.<ref name=":3">{{cite journal|last1=Shapiro|first1=Ann R.|date=2002|title=Edna Ferber, Jewish American Feminist|journal=Shofar|volume=20|issue=2|pages=52–60|doi=10.1353/sho.2001.0159|s2cid=143198251}}</ref> During this time and unlike most Americans, she became troubled by the rise of the [[Nazi Party]] and its spreading of the [[antisemitic]] prejudice she had faced in her childhood. She commented on this saying, "It was a fearful thing to see a continent – a civilization – crumbling before one's eyes. It was a rapid and seemingly inevitable process to which no one paid any particular attention."{{sfn|Ferber|1939|p=267}} Her fears greatly influenced her work, which often featured themes of racial and cultural discrimination. Her 1938 autobiography, ''[[A Peculiar Treasure]]'', originally included a spiteful dedication to [[Adolf Hitler]] which stated: <blockquote>To Adolf Hitler, who has made me a better Jew and a more understanding human being, as he has of millions of other Jews, this book is dedicated in loathing and contempt.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>While this was changed by the time of the book's publication, it still alluded to the Nazi threat.<ref name=":3" /> She frequently mentions Jewish success in her book, alluding to and wanting to show not just that Jewish success, but Jews being able to use that and prevail.<ref name=":3" />