On the bottom of the full page it it says that the ad is a paid message from the Church of Scientology International from a grant from the International Association of Scientologists. It's purpose is to focus attention on the alarming resurgence of violence in Germany.
For Europe, D-Day marked the beginning of the Third Reich and the first step in the liberation from the yoke of fascism. Less then a year after Normandy's beaches were crossed, Berlin fell.
But there was more to the fall of Germany than mere defeat. As allied armies closed in, the discovered another horror - concentration camps where tens of millions had been exterminated. Those who walked out alive told of the Holocaust they had endured and a horrified world vowed, "Never again."
Fifty years later, Germany is reunited. But though it has tried to overcome the legacy of its own dark past, the new Germany in many ways signals a reawakening of the Germany of the 1930's and 40s.
Neo-Nazi extremism is again on the rise. Members of minority religions and ethnic groups have been targets of beatings, burnings and even murder. Media coverage of these events has left the impression that these acts of violence and hatred are being committed only by a fringe groups of shaven-headed, neo-Nazi youth.
But this is not the case.
Germany's leading novelist and essayist, Gunter Grass, pointed out that skinheads on the streets are not the real problem.
"The most dangerous thing is we have skins in the government," Mr. Grass was quoted as saying in The International Herald Tribune. "They are nicely dressed with beautiful hair, educated. They speak well. But they think the same way as the young kids who shave their heads and carry swastikas and demonstrate. They encourage these ideas and these brutal actions."
Today we are seeing what the world was witnessing in the 1930s: a multi-pronged onslaught against anyone who doesn't fit into a "German" mold.
Among those targeted have been members of the Church of Scientology. They are being ostracized purely because of their religious beliefs. German Scientologists are barred from membership in political parties. In Hamburg, laws exist which prohibit Scientologists from renting public halls or buying city property. Rocks and bottles have been hurled through Church windows and individual Scientologists have been threatened, beaten and harassed.
German Scientologists have complained to Chancellor Kohl about these and similar incidents of hatred and discrimination, pointing out that the perpetrators include many in government positions. they have exhorted him to uphold the protections afforded all religions by the German Constitution.
But to no avail.
There is urgency for someone to act, for it is not just Scientologists who are at risk, but members of any "non-German" minority who can be trampled under neo-Nazi boots.
What happened during the Holocaust was one of history's most terrible tragedies. It must NEVER be repeated. Yet hate and propaganda directed against minority religions and others in the new Germany - and the unwillingness of government officials to stop discrimination gives rise to concern and demands action.
Years ago, Germany generated a negative impression of the Jews through a Nazi hate campaign designed to created a false and distrustful attitude. That insidious process has begun anew today, with the Church of Scientology and other minorities as targets. If that hate campaign has engendered ill will toward Scientology, its propaganda - which is being exposed in these advertisements - is the source of such sediments.
The purpose of this and future ads in Roll Call is to present information on the subject of hate and propaganda in Germany - yesterday and today - to prevent history from repeating itself.
As you read this and future advertisments, do not just stand by but take action yourself.
Write to President Bill Clinton. Urge him to take strong and effective steps to stop hatred and discrimination against religion and ethnic minorities in Germany:
President Bill Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20500 USA
Send copies of your letters to:
Commission of Security and Cooperation in Europe
234 Ford House Office
Building Washington, D.C. 20515 USA
U.S. Representative Tom Lantos
Co-Chairman - Congressional Human Rights Caucus
2183 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515 USA
Dr. Helmut Kohl
Federal Chancellor
Adenauerallee 141
5300 Bonn 1
Federal Republic of Germany
For your free copy write to:
Church of Scientology International
6331 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 1200
Los Angeles, CA 90028-6329
or call (202)543-6404