Badische Zeitung, a newspaper from the Southwest of Germany (Freiburg area) reports (excerpts) on 27. September 1996:

Nobody wants them: German newspaper publishers refuse scientoloy ad campaign

A QUESTIONABLE CULT WANTS TO POSE AS INNOCENT VICTIM

Nobody wants them [Nespaper  publishers] refused a series of ads which the scientology-cult wants to publish. With ten full page ads, each one costing from 23,000 DM to 64,000 DM, the organization wants to start a "campaign of enlightment".

"Enlightment" however is less addressed to the goals and intentions of the cult — which "possibly" is planned for the second part of the series. Moreover the organization wants to warn about the "dangers" of the "current situation".

The ads — publishers were delivered samples of texts — compare the actions of German officials against the cult with the persecution of the jews during national socialism. The general tenor is that in Germany there is again a climate as it existed before the holocaust….

… The ad texts talk about "religious intolerance", "hate propaganda" and "social discrimination". Statements are missing concerning these allegations: that the cult exploits its members mentally and economically, that it terrorizse critics, that it attempts to undermine business, state and society and that it is aiming for totalitarian world domination. It appears that scientology is less interested in defence but in creating an image of being an innocent victim.

Tom Voltz