GERMANY: Down to Size

Political passions swirled last week around Pastor Martin Niemöller. Was he a democratic hero? His sponsors said he was. An unreconstructed Nazi? His enemies said so. The truth seemed to be that Niemöller was neither: he was not a leader, a thinker, a martyr, a racist or a hypocrite. U.S. opinion had inflated the Niemöller myth out of all relation to reality; now some of those who helped create the myth stood by it while others, disillusioned, attacked Niemöller with a bitterness he did not deserve.

The fight over Pastor Niemoller, smoldering since Eleanor Roosevelt's adverse comment on his U.S....

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!