One More Verboten
By a decree issued last week Dr. Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda and Enlightenment, put an end to one of the last feeble forms of free expression in Germany. In future there is to be no more art criticism : critics must not say if certain works of art, books, plays, sym- phonies, paintings, are good or bad ; they must " describe and appreciate " only, so that people may form their own opinion. Critics, moreover, must be pure of heart and free in spirit, and have National-Socialist consciences and be over 80 years of age. Since the days of Metternich such phases have been typical of the German reaction suppressing independent thought ; it is extremely revealing to notice the panic with which independence of mind and judgement is hunted down, even though it only shows itself in book reviews and theatre critiques. For translated into reality the decree means that critics are completely at the mercy of the Ministry of Propa- ganda and Enlightenment, and, like everyone else, subjected to the intellectual dictatorship of the Party. In all literalness a nation without a soul to call its own.
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