* , * * * ..6* The death of Kurt
Schumacher, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party in Germany, ends a life darkened by per- petual suffering. Schumacher was doubly crippled, having lost both an arm and a leg as a result of military service in the First War and incarceration in Nazi concentration camps in the Second. There is no doubt that physical pain had affected his whole outlook. He was a deeply embittered man, often im- porting into political opposition an animus which most of his followers did not share. That is particularly true of his atti- tude towards Germany's integration in the west, whether through the Schuman Plan or through membership of the European Defence Community. His removal from the political scene will undoubtedly make life easier for Dr. Adenauer. His successor may be Herr 011enhauer, who has been leading the party in the Bundestag during his illness, or another prominent Socialist deputy, Professor Carlo Schmidt. But there are other possibilities. * * * *
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