Adenauer's Germany
Sir:
. . . The Adenauer cover story [TIME, Aug. 31] could not have been better. A true report of a great statesman . . .
HART H. KAHLKE
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Sir:
Being myself a half-German ... I was deeply moved when I read your superb story. It is interesting to notice that Germany, as a defeated country, is much more powerful and advanced today than some of its conquerors. Let us hope that this nation, which is capable of accomplishing great things, will not fall into the hands of maniacs similar to the ones who came into power in 1933.
GEORGE KOVACS Montreal, Que.
Wistful & Delectable
Sir:
Thanks for painting Audrey Hepburn [Sept. 7 cover] honestly, for here's an actress alternately wistful and delectable. Only less fragile and more dramatic than Chaliapin's counterpoint—an adolescent's ice cream cone.
If Hollywood and its mental dwarfs resist undermining her original talent and broad theatrical range, why then she's already passed those cruel steppingstones to stardom.
T , JOHN L. SUTER Vincennes, Ind.
Von Papen, Pro & Con
Sir:
In reviewing my Memoirs [Aug. 17], your magazine expresses obviously biased and hostile opinions concerning my official career and my personal character. As a person and governmental official who has lived in the public eye, I cannot escape reactions, hostile or otherwise, to my own public actions. However, when these opinions are coupled with gross inaccuracies, I must protest ... I am fully aware of what the world press has written about me and my career. Constant repetition of false and libelous statements about me has resulted in giving me a sinister reputation.
In your review you state: 1) Von Papen "hired saboteurs he did not know . . . [and he] has been widely suspected of organizing the 1916 munitions explosion at the Black Tom pier in Jersey City and the 1917 ex plosion that wrecked the Canadian Car & Foundry plant at Kingsland, N.J. In 1939, a Mixed Claims Commission found Germany guilty of both blasts." The Mixed Claims Commission rejected these accusations, and only after the German member had been withdrawn, a purely American commission granted the claims. 2) You further state that I "repeatedly cabled in the clear the name of at least one fellow spy (who was caught)." This is a flat lie, and I challenge you to prove this statement. 3) You further state that I "tried to conquer Austria for the Nazis 'peacefully' by organizing sabotage and propaganda." The NÜrnberg Tribunal, composed of the four victorious powers, which certainly had no friendly feelings for me, decided on these accusations and acquitted me. You should at least accept the verdict of your own tribunal.