'HITLER OR ANY FASCIST LEADER CONTROLLED BY GOD COULD CURE ALL ILLS OF WORLD, BUCHMAN BELIEVES.

'To Dr Frank Nathan Daniel Buchman, vigorous, outspoken, 58-year-old leader of the revivalist Oxford Group, the Fascist dictatorship of Europe suggests infinite possibilities for remaking the world and putting it under "God Control".

'"I thank heaven for a man like Adolf Hitler, who built a front line of defense against the anti-Christ of Communism," he said today in his book-lined office in the annexe of Calvary Church, Fourth Ave and 21st St.

'"My barber in London told me Hitler saved Europe from Communism. That's how he felt. Of course, I don't condone everything the Nazis do. Anti-Semitism? Bad, naturally. I suppose Hitler sees a Karl Marx in every Jew.

‘"But think what it would mean to the world if Hitler surrendered to the control of God."'

The remainder of the interview, extending to a further twenty-two paragraphs, contained a sketch of what Buchman considered a God- controlled country might look like and his assertion that God could make his will known to any man. 'The world won't listen to God, but God has a plan for every person, every nation. Human ingenuity is not enough. That is why the 'isms are pitted against each other and blood flows.'

Finally, speaking directly to the reporter - for his aim in a press interview was always to offer his deepest experience of change to the reporter as well as to answer his questions - he spent much of the time in telling of his own experience of the Cross of Christ, a Power strong enough to remove hatred from his own life, and so, he believed, to change anyone and control even a dictator.

The legend of this interview which survives - and has been quoted again and again - is that Buchman said, 'Thank God for Hitler.' This phrase was not Buchman's nor printed in the article, nor, according to those present, did it represent the tenor of the interview. For example, Garrett Stearly states, 'I was present at the interview. I was amazed when the story came out. It was so out of key with the interview. This had started with an account of the Oxford Group's work in Europe. Buchman was asked what about Germany. He said that Germany needed a new Christian spirit, yet one had to face the fact that Hitler had been a bulwark against Communism there - and you could at least thank heaven for that. It was a throw-away line. No eulogy of Hitler at all.'

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