Eleanor Roosevelt to Ben L. Rose
Eleanor Roosevelt to Ben L. Rose
20 September 1945 [Hyde Park]
My dear Chaplain Rose:
I was interested in your letter about Pastor Martin Niemoeller and thank you for writing me as you did.
I certainly do not think that a man should be condemned without a hearing, and I did not write my article about Pastor Niemoeller until after I had read his own statement. I was shocked by it, and wrote with only that in mind as previous to reading his statement I had greatly admired him. Pastor Niemoeller is not condemned for speaking the truth and sounding like Hitler.12
All of us who know Germans are aware that they like to be governed, but this attitude should not be encouraged. They should be made to realize that they are responsible for their leaders and for their form of government.
Very sincerely yours,
TLc AERP, FDRL
Yet ER remained concerned enough about her correspondence with Rose to seek Trude Lash's assessment of the debate. Trude responded bluntly.