The film “Judg­ment at Nurem­berg” sug­gests that Churchill “praised Hitler” right after the Munich Pact, which would seem an odd time for Churchill to be singing the praises of the Führer. What’s the story? —K.C., Washington

Hitler address­ing the Reich­stag, 1941. (Wiki­me­dia Commons)

In a speech to the Reich­stag in early Novem­ber 1938, Hitler had attacked Churchill and oth­ers who had objected to the Munich Pact by name and describ­ing them as “war­mon­gers.” Reply­ing in the House of Com­mons on 6 Novem­ber, Churchill said:

I am sur­prised that the head of a great State should set him­self to attack British mem­bers of Par­lia­ment who hold no offi­cial posi­tion and who are not even the lead­ers of par­ties. Such action on his part can only enhance any influ­ence they may have, because their fellow-countrymen have long been able to form their own opin­ion about them and really do not need for­eign guidance.

What Churchill then said has often been quoted out of con­text to sug­gest that he was an admirer of Hitler. A par­tial quo­ta­tion is in Churchill by Him­self, the “Peo­ple” chap­ter, Hitler, page 346. But just so there’s no doubt, I have sup­plied all the words rep­re­sented by ellipses in my book:

I have always said that if Great Britain were defeated in war I hoped we should find a Hitler to lead us back to our right­ful posi­tion among the nations. I am sorry, how­ever, that he has not been mel­lowed by the great suc­cess that has attended him. The whole world would rejoice to see the Hitler of peace and tol­er­ance, and noth­ing would adorn his name in world his­tory so much as acts of mag­na­nim­ity and of mercy and of pity to the for­lorn and friend­less, to the weak and poor.

Since he has been good enough to give me his advice I ven­ture to return the com­pli­ment. Herr Hitler also showed him­self unduly sen­si­tive about sug­ges­tions that there may be other opin­ions in Ger­many besides his own. It would be indeed aston­ish­ing if, among 80,000,000 of peo­ple so vary­ing in ori­gin, creed, inter­est, and con­di­tion, there should be only one pat­tern of thought. It would not be nat­ural: it is incred­i­ble. That he has the power, and, alas! the will, to sup­press all incon­ve­nient opin­ions is no doubt true. It would be much wiser to relax a lit­tle, and not try to frighten peo­ple out of their wits for express­ing hon­est doubt and diver­gences. He is mis­taken in think­ing that I do not see Ger­mans of the Nazi regime when they come to this coun­try. On the con­trary, only this year I have seen, at their request, Herr Bohle, Herr Hen­lein, and the Gauleiter of Danzig, and they all know that.

In com­mon with most Eng­lish men and women, I should like noth­ing bet­ter than to see a great, happy, peace­ful Ger­many in the van­guard of Europe. Let this great man search his own heart and con­science before he accuses any­one of being a war­mon­ger. The whole peo­ples of the British Empire and the French Repub­lic earnestly desire to dwell in peace side by side with the Ger­man nation. But they are also resolved to put them­selves in a posi­tion to defend their rights and long-established civ­i­liza­tions. They do not mean to be in anybody’s power. If Herr Hitler’s eye falls upon these words I trust he will accept them in the spirit of can­dour in which they are uttered.

Tagged as: Albrecht Forster, Ernst Wilhelm Bohle, Hitler, Judgment at Nuremberg, Konrad Henlein, Munich Pact, Parliament, Reichstag