Synopsis
Between War and Peace: Issues of Understanding and Reconciliation offers a contribution to a democratic way of living (in German).
PHP 45 Translation – Between War and Peace
Download the PHP 45 English Translation – Between War and Peace
About the Author(s)
Wilhelm Sollmann (1881-1951) was a German activist and political leader. He initially worked in the neighborhood of Cologne, editing and writing for radical newspapers. This work faced continued repression by the government of Kaiser Wilhelm. His outspoken criticism and agitation for democracy catapulted him to the forefront of German politics at the end of World War I. He led the German peace delegation to Versailles, and later worked to write the Weimar Constitution, including its statements on the relationship between church and state and its clause on freedom of religion. He was elected to the Weimar Parliament and appointed Secretary for the Interior during the late nineteen twenties. After Hitler’s election, he was one of the first members of parliament attacked by storm troopers. He recuperated in Luxembourg and resettled in the Saarland, a region then under the control of the League of Nations, which would vote to become part of Germany in 1935. During this period, he also taught several courses at Woodbrooke. After emigration to England, he made his way to Pendle Hill, where he taught for thirteen years. He also taught classes at Reed College, Bard College, Haverford, Harvard, the City University of New York and the University of Pittsburg. In spite of his willingness to teach, he tried to avoid the pretensions of a politician turned professor. He turned down an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Cologne. After the war, he returned to Germany and worked with the founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, Roger Baldwin, to start the German Civil Liberties Union and campaign for civil rights guarantees in the new German constitution. He believed that religion served as a moral compass for liberal democracy so long as it retained vitality, and his pamphlet Religion and Politics (PHP #14) outlined this view. Wilhelm Sollmann died in 1951.
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #45
