Being a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but, no, the universities immediately were silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks. …
Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.
Albert Einstein, TIME, 23 September 1940
Mr. Cusack,
That is a glorious quote. Thanks for posting it.
Agreed.
That “quotation” attributed to Einstein is fraudulent. See Christopher Hitchens “God is Not Great” pp. 242-3. It is an attempt to make it appear that Einstein sided with the church, even though the church did nothing about “Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth” nor about his murder of millions.
The claim that the Church did nothing about Hitler or his murder of millions is fraudulent. C.f. Rabbi Dalin’s book The Myth of Hitler’s Pope or any life of Bishop von Galen or St. Maximilian Kolbe or any of the Catholic saints and heroes of the Second World War.
As for the Einstein quotation, TIME still has it up on their website without any corrigenda.