No longer ago than last Saturday I happened to be
asking a leading official in the Rotary movement whether Rotary existed, or could exist, in Germany. He answered confidently (and quite accurately) that it certainly did exist, and met with no difficulties at all, its aims having- been explained to Herr Hitler to his satisfaction. On Tuesday came the announce- ment that no Nazi May henceforward be a Rotarian, which means obviously that no one else will remain one. Of the reasons officially given—that the movement is international, and that its German members might therefore be in the position of having to "take orders" from abroad ; and that in other countries Jews can be Rotarians—the first reveals a puerility and the second a fanaticism that once again emphasise the hopelessness of any real understanding with Nazi Germany. I am not a Rotarian, but I have nothing but admiration for the success it is achieving in broadening the minds of its members in every country and establishing durable and effective links between different countries. But neither achievement seems compatible with current Nazi policy.
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