Who is George Bell?
Born in Hayling Island, Hampshire, Bell's earlier career was
shaped by his appointment as chaplain (meaning private secretary)
to Archbishop Randall Davidson, one of the key figures in twentieth
century church history. Bell subsequently wrote the standard
biography of Davidson.
Later he became Bishop of Chichester.
After 1933, Bell became the most important international ally
of the Confessing Church in Germany. He was a close friend of
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who often informed Bell of what was going
on in Germany. Bell used his authority as a leader in the Ecumenical
Leader and since 1938 as Lord Spiritual to influence public opinion
in Britain and the Nazi authorities in Berlin. His public support
is said to have contributed to Pastor Martin Niemoeller's survival.
In winter 1938/39 he helped 90 persons, mainly Pastors' families,
to emigrate from Germany to Great Britain who were in danger
because they had Jewish ancestors or were opponents of the Nazi
regime.
During World War II Bell repeatedly condemned the Allied practice
of area bombing. He informed Anthony Eden of the German resistance
movement and tried in vain to gain the British government's support
for them.
As a member of the House of Lords, he was a consistent parliamentary
critic of area bombing along with Richard Stokes and Alfred Salter,
Labour Party Members of Parliament in the House of Commons. In
November 1939 he had published an article stating that the Church
in wartime should not hesitate
"... to condemn the infliction of reprisals, or the
bombing of civilian populations, by the military forces of
its own nation. It should set itself against the propaganda
of lies and hatred. It should be ready to encourage the resumption
of friendly relations with the enemy nation. It should set
its face against any war of extermination or enslavement, and
any measures directly aimed to destroy the morale of a population." [1]
In 1941 in a letter to The Times, he called the bombing
of unarmed women and children "barbarian" which would
destroy the just cause for the war. On February 14, 1943 - two
years ahead of the Dresden raids - he urged the House of Lords
to resist the War Cabinet's decision for area bombing. As a close
friend of the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer Bell knew precise
details of German plans to assassinate Adolf Hitler. So in 1942
he asked Anthony Eden to declare publicly the British would make
a distinction between the Nazi regime and German people. After
July 20, 1944, he harshly criticised the British government,
as having doomed German resisters against Hitler to fail. That
year, during debate, he again demanded the House of Lords to
stop British area bombing as a crime against humanity and asked:
"How can the War Cabinet fail to see that this progressive
devastation of cities is threatening the roots of civilization?" [ citation
needed]
In 1944 the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, died after
only two years in that post. Bell was considered a leading possibility
to succeed him, but in fact it was Geoffrey Fisher, Bishop of
London, who was appointed. Bishops of the Church of England were
chosen ultimately by the Prime Minister, and it is known that
Winston Churchill strongly disapproved of Bell's speeches against
bombing. It has often been asserted that Bell would otherwise
have been appointed, but this is debatable: there is evidence
that Temple had thought Fisher a likely successor anyway. In
hindsight, many Anglicans wish that Bell had been appointed,
which has tended to colour opinions.
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