Einstein, an atheist, said,
"Being a lover of freedom, when the [Nazi] revolution came I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors o fthe newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks.
Only the church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for supressing the truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it because the church alone has had the courage and persistance to stand for intellectual and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly."