Hoppe Hopped

As their eminent psychologists have pointed out, few peoples suffer from such raging inferiority complexes or are so easily stung by foreign criticism as the Germans. Last week there was real pain at Hitler Youth headquarters in Berlin. Too many priests, pastors and editors abroad were concerning themselves with the pronouncement which went out last month signed by Hitler Youth Pressagent August Hoppe: "Youths, do you not feel the spirit of your fathers that aroused them to fight against that foreign doctrine--Christianity? . . . German youth! Abandon the Jewish-Christian conception of sin, pity and loving the enemy!"

Since the entire German Press is rigidly controlled, Pagan Hoppe could never have issued such a blast without authority. It stood unchallenged for over a fortnight while foreign furore grew. Suddenly last week the Hitler Youth discovered that August Hoppe had "falsely posed as the Hitler Youth press chief." It was further discovered that Hoppe had been expelled from the Hitler Youth. In a final effort to appease Christians, Pagan Hoppe was berated for his "heinous attacks on Christianity," and ordered to desist for one month, during which time his pagan organ Nordland was suppressed.

"Crass Infraction." Reichsbischof Ludwig Mueller, the blatant German Army chaplain promoted by Adolf Hitler to the post of virtual dictator of German Protestantism (TIME, Oct. 9), denounced foreign Protestant pastors for criticizing his autocratic policies last week, flayed them for "seeing with the eyes of a poorly or falsely informed foreign world." Next day, in a suit to test Reichsbischof Mueller's January decree on which he based his Protestant dictatorship, the Berlin High Court declared: "The decree undoubtedly is invalid, and thus everything is null and void that the Reichsbischof has done on the strength of the powers he has given to himself by a crass infraction of the law."

Morally this was indeed a blow to Dr. Mueller, but the Reichsbischof, knowing perfectly well that his acts have been illegal for months, recently had them retroactively confirmed by an act of his hand-picked Church Synod which has yet to be tested in the courts.

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