Bishop Hans Meisser, Bavarian Evangelist leader who successfully blocked the Nazification of the German Evangelical church, was released from the Episcopal Palace in Munich today, according to reports reaching here.
The release of Bishop Meisser, after thousands of his parisioners had openly defied the Nazi government, is fraught with political significance, as observers point out that the Nazis have conceded their first serious defeat in the “coordination” of Germany.
It is expected that other dissident groups will take courage from this set-back which the Nazis have suffered and may make attempts to throw off the Hitler yoke.
Chancellor Hitler was asked to take a hand in the bitter schism which had split the Evangelical church wide open. He was understood to have declined, fearing that failure to mend the breach would weaken his personal prestige.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
