Americans found it hard to fathom Pastor Martin Niemöller. After V-E day, the gaunt-faced old U-boat commander had dived repentantly, leaving a bubble of advice to his fellow Germans to confess "the crimes committed during the last twelve years." But last week, as the pastor-commander surfaced again, he seemed to be flying the old German flag. He bade Germans take no further voluntary part in denazification proceedings.
Niemöller's reason: "Hundreds of thousands yield under constant pressure to the temptation to wash their hands of guilt by any conceivable lie or distortion . . . and the newly sown seed of...