THE NAZI REICH’S STRUGGLE TO COORDINATE THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH REACHED A SENSATIONAL CLIMAX TODAY WITH THE ARREST OF REV. MARTIN NIEMOELLER, OUT-STANDING ENEMY OF NAZI INTERVENTION, THE HAVAS NEWS AGENCY REPORTED. NIEMOELLER HAS ALSO OPPOSED NAZI RACIAL POLICIES.
NIEMOELLER WAS SEIZED BY THE SECRET STATE POLICE AND BROUGHT BEFORE A JUDGE WHO ISSUED A FORMAL ORDER FOR HIS ARREST, IT WAS ANNOUNCED IN A DNB (GERMAN NEWS BUREAU) COMMUNIQUE. THE ANNOUNCEMENT ADDED:
“FOR A LONG TIME NIEMOELLER, IN RELIGIOUS OFFICES AND SERMONS, HAS UTTERED INFLAMMATORY REMARKS, INSULTED PERSONALITIES DIRECTING THE STATE AND THE NAZI MOVEMENT, AND SPREAD FALSE ALLEGATIONS ON STATE DECREES. HE HAS SOUGHT TO SOW TROUBLE AMONG THE PEOPLE, AND HAS EVEN CALLED FOR A REVOLT AGAINST THE LAWS AND ORDINANCES OF THE STATE. HIS DECLARATIONS HAVE CONSTANTLY BEEN CITED BY THOSE SECTIONS OF THE FOREIGN PRESS WHICH ARE HOSTILE TO THE REICH.”
A SERIES OF DRASTIC ACTIONS BY THE GOVERNMENT IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS, IN A REVERSION TO FORCE AFTER ATTEMPTS AT CONCILIATING THE CHURCH, WERE BROUGHT TO A CLIMAX IN NIEMOELLER’S ARREST.
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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.
