" BLACK RECORD " Sta,—Miss Minehead repeats simply in far
cruder a form Miss Buller's argument. It would thus be waste of your valuable space if I restated my point of view. Miss Minehead includes, however, two personal attacks against me which I cannot possibly leave unanswered. She asks me first of all, sarcastically, for what purpose I intend to publish a book in which " great Germans " of the past give their view on their own country and their fellow-countrymen. I thought I had made it perfectly clear that my main purpose is to make the book available for educational use in schools and universities. U Miss Minehead had any experience of teaching languages, and especially German, in this country she would have been as thunder- struck as I was (and still am) about the existing German text-books and "readers." A very great number describe Germany as the best and most beautiful country in the world ; she would find the most attractive photos of the Fiihrer, sharp attacks against England. sen- tences such as " The Hitler youth is basically nothing else than the Boy Scouts in England," "Hitler always underlined how much the Germans love peace," " The situation improved only in German! when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor"; other books contain log extracts—without any comment whatsoever—from such books as Mein Kampf, Hitler Youth—New Youth, the Nazis' Party Programme, Germany's Greatness—the Work of the Fiihrer, and so forth. In- credible as it may seem, some of these books were even published after the outbreak of war, and were, quite rightly, attacked in The Times of October 3rd, 0940. It seemed to me more valuable to the youth of this country if they read what Goethe, Heine, Kant' Schopenhauer, &c., wrote about Germany than the dangerous books mentioned above. Miss Minehead writes that I would be well advised to " save the paper." Mr. J. 0. Roach, of the Upiversity of Cam' bridge Local Examination Syndicate, wrote to me of my letter in The Spectator: "It seems possible that your projected book Gt.° Germans on Germany may meet what I consider to 'be a need 10
Nigher School Certificate candidates specialising in German and for university students." I leave it to your readers to decide who of the two is the more qualified authority to decide questions of this kind (and hope Mr. Roach kindly excuses my indiscretion).
The second reproach which Miss Minehead makes against me is a far graver one. She says that I teach " hatred and despise." According to Miss Minehead, we fight the war only against Hitler and his gang. Once the war is over, the past is forgotten and we build hand in hand with the dear, poor, misguided Germans what she calls a " better Europe." She herself probably hopes to return to her old country and to take up again the life she led " in the good old days." It is quite understandable that a certain class of refugees, especially the older ones, prefer to live in the past, shut their eyes to realities and look forward to the day when they can return to their country. I blame these refugees for a good many things. They spread these myths to a great extent of the German " Gemiitlichkeit," the kind-hearted professors and charming " Bier-Kellers." They have considered only too often their refuge as a temporary measure, they have assured only too often in the past—chiefly urged by their own desire and unhappiness--that " Hitler cannot possibly last." They hoped as much as anybody else did that Hitler would fall, but they so often failed to see that with or without Hitler the mentality of the German would remain the same. Their attitude was from the human point of view quite understandable, but they should have learnt the lesson of their false prophecies for the last zo years, and be quiet now.
I am convinced that we fight this war not . against the Nazis or Adolf Hitler, but against the German mentality, their love for war and aggression. No less authority than Mr. Winston Churchill fore- saw over four years ago that one day we would have to fight a war against a "non-God religion." (He said so on September 24th, 1936, at a lecture at the Ambassador's Theatre in Paris.) This " non-God religion" is deep-rooted in the hearts of the Germans ; it has a long historical record, which just nobody can possibly deny. (In theory: Fichte, Hegel, Treitschke ; in practice: Frederick miscalled the Great, Bismarck, William II.) If we fight this dangerous mentality, this relig.on which glorifies war and hate, then the victory in the battle- field is only the first step to our final victory. The second step is then probably even more difficult to achieve: to re-form, or as one says today " re-educate," the German people. We have then the gigantic task of trying to replace the German religion of war and hate by our religion of love and peace. In order to be able to carry out this great mission, we need a youth with the highest ethical ideas and ideals. The importance of religious education can therefore not be overstated at the moment. But they also need a fall knowledge of the evils which they will have to fight. It is with this latter point .hat I am concerned.
Miss Minehead admits that my facts may be right, but that it creates hatred. If the world should really ever come to such. a state at to teach the truth is considered as teaching " hatred and despise," :hen life will not be worth while living any longer. But for the moment I am still free in this great and wonderful country to teach a hat I consider the bitter truth, not in order to create hatred, but in order to do my bit to bring about after the war that change of heart n the Germans which will be necessary before we can dare to talk .11,out a " better Europe." For permanent peace will only be possible if we ourselves have successfully taught to the Germans the Holy Truth of the Bible, which is the exact opposite of their " non-God religion," and have made them fulfil Isaiah's noble prophecy of Humanity: " They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."—Yours faithfully,
Previous page
