“Youth in Berlin"
SIR,—You do well to emphasise the dangerous foil!, of under-estimating the significance and possible consequences of the Communist Youth Rally recently held in East Berlin ; and you ask, very pertinently, hoW a correspondingly enthusiastic response can be evoked for the ideals of the freedom loving nations. The question leads me to express surprise and regret that we have not heard much more in this country of another great rally held in July of this year in West Berlin. Under the auspices of the. Protestant Churches of Germany over 250,000 men and women, coming from .all parts' of the country (for Germans from the Eastern Zone seem in this instance to have had no serious obstacle placed in the way of their attending), assembled for five days to try to understand
better what Christian faith and Christian practice must mean for them
pi
in face of the concrete situations of eir everyday life.
Viewed in itself, and more es Tally when viewed in relation to present-day conditions in 'Germany and in Central- Europe, this Evangelischer Kirchentag ought surely to be recognised as one of the most remarkable gatherings in the history of the modern Church. The vital forces behind it were essentially religious ; its slogan, " We are all brothers," expressed not a merely political ideal, but the universal brotherhood to be found in Christ. It was, however, far from being narrowly pietistic ; it dealt with urgent practical problems, and very many of those attending were not openly adherents of any Christian communion. Its growth was to a singular extent spontaneous ; the spirit of unity which animated it from first to last was not the result of organisation or the expression of allegiance to any one leader, party or confeision. Above all it was essentially a gathering of laymen, ordinary men and women who, in the maddening maze of the modem world, were eager to find the Christian way of life for themselves and for society.
Following as it did on corresponding gatherings held last year in Essen and previously in Hanover, the Berlin Kirchenlag dearly represents the beginning of a new and vital religious movement in Germany ; and, as observers who were present from other lands have emphatically recognised, other nations would do well to give serious heed to it, and to learn from it. Have we here perhaps the beginnings of a new
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