A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
FROM someone who enjoys unusual facilities for studying Eastern Germany I have learned a great deal that is extremely interesting about conditions there. He confirms the common estimate that convinced Communists among the German population number no more than about 5 per cent., but Communist propaganda of every kind in every field is directed towards increasing that number. Communist teaching is uni- versal in the schools, but the parents tell the children to believe none of it, few of the teachers who are compelled to give it believe in it, and the children know the teachers don't believe in it. The Russians no doubt know all this too, but they hold that in the end the constant drip will tell—as in the end it con- ceivably may. Though practically the whole population is anti- Communist at heart it is from the Churches, both Protestant and Catholic, that the only effective opposition comes. Services are not interfered with, but educational and missionary work is, and when practical obstacles can be put in the way they are put in the way. Bombed churches, for example, stand very low in the priority list for building materials, and Communist newspapers consume so much paper (which is, of course, controlled by the Government) that there is never any left for Church publications. Yet with it all Church membership and attendance is increasing.
Previous page
