Sir, As a history lecturer Gervase Phillips (letter, Jan 11) could be expected to know that, without defining our terms, our assertions can end up sounding remarkably naive. Is he claiming that a single Hitlerian phrase that he was “profoundly religious on the inside” really forms the basis of a convincing refutation that Nazism was an “atheist ideology”? Today’s reader might detect a hint of irony in the addition of those words “on the inside”.
Also, the word “providence” is not necessarily an invariable synonym for the word “God”, especially as used in Hitler’s speeches. One might suspect Hitler’s own surprise at finding himself cast as a religious fanatic.
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Stephen H. Louden
Netherton, Merseyside