TV presenter sacked for praising Hitler

German public broadcaster ARD has fired prominent TV presenter Eva Herman for praising Adolf Hitler's family policies. Herman, 48, who has stirred controversy over the last year by calling on women to have children rather than focus on their careers, had referred to the Nazi era during a news conference last week to promote her new book on child-rearing: TV presenter sacked for praising Hitler "It was a gruesome time with a totally crazy and highly dangerous leader who led the Germans into ruin as we all know. But there was at the time also something good, and that is the values, that is the children, that is the families, that is a togetherness -- it was all abolished, there was nothing left," Herman said. The program director for ARD's northern division Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Volker Herres, said Herman had been sacked with immediate effect. "Frau Herman is free to carry on her 'motherhood crusade', but this is no longer compatible with her role as an NDR TV presenter." He said guests had been cancelling their appearances on Herman's talk show in response to her public statements on motherhood. Herman was a newsreader for the network's flagship "Tagesschau" program for 18 years until last year. She has also hosted several other regional talk shows and incensed feminists with her 2006 bestseller "The Eva Principle" in which she argued that Germans would die out if the nation's women don't change their ways. While presenting her new book "The Noah's Ark Principle -- Why We Must Save the Family" last week, she was quoted as saying: "Values such as family, children and motherhood, which were also promoted in the Third Reich, were subsequently abandoned by the 1968 generation." Her comments provoked outrage in Germany. "In Eva Herman's case, even women's rights activists want her to return home to her kitchen stove," said Renate Künast, a prominent member of the opposition Green Party. Herman told Bild newspaper on Monday that she couldn't understand what the fuss was about. "I expressly distanced myself from the 'Third Reich' at several points. One has to put my statement into its overall context. This isn't about Hitler's values, but about basic human values, which were abused in the 'Third Reich' and later abolished." "Those who know me and read the book know that I fundamentally reject far-left and far-right parties. It's a sub-clause that has led to this misunderstanding." The far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) embraced her comments and even invited her to advise the party on family policy. "Frau Herman has now experienced first-hand what passes for freedom of speech in this country," NPD member Andreas Mohlau said in a statement on the party's Web site. "Why doesn't NDR approve of Frau Herman praising the protection of mothers in the Third Reich? Are laws to protect pregnant mothers bad just because they were decided by National Socialists?" The Nazis offered incentives to German women to bear many children and introduced the "Lebensborn" program to create a master race of blond, blue-eyed kids. Mothers with three and more children under 10 years old got "honorary cards" allowing them to jump shopping queues and get discounts on their rent payments. Cheap state loans were offered for parents, and there was the "Mother's Cross" medal: bronze for four children, silver for six and gold for eight. Author Ralph Giordano, a Holocaust survivor, said Herman's comments "are the worst thing I've heard in a long time." He told Bild: "Frau Herman should know that what characterized the Third Reich wasn't how mothers were treated, because they were just meant to produce cannon fodder. What characterized it was the gas chambers."

TV presenter sacked for praising Hitler

"It was a gruesome time with a totally crazy and highly dangerous leader who led the Germans into ruin as we all know. But there was at the time also something good, and that is the values, that is the children, that is the families, that is a togetherness -- it was all abolished, there was nothing left," Herman said.

The program director for ARD's northern division Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Volker Herres, said Herman had been sacked with immediate effect. "Frau Herman is free to carry on her 'motherhood crusade', but this is no longer compatible with her role as an NDR TV presenter."

He said guests had been cancelling their appearances on Herman's talk show in response to her public statements on motherhood.

Herman was a newsreader for the network's flagship "Tagesschau" program for 18 years until last year. She has also hosted several other regional talk shows and incensed feminists with her 2006 bestseller "The Eva Principle" in which she argued that Germans would die out if the nation's women don't change their ways.

While presenting her new book "The Noah's Ark Principle -- Why We Must Save the Family" last week, she was quoted as saying: "Values such as family, children and motherhood, which were also promoted in the Third Reich, were subsequently abandoned by the 1968 generation."

Her comments provoked outrage in Germany. "In Eva Herman's case, even women's rights activists want her to return home to her kitchen stove," said Renate Künast, a prominent member of the opposition Green Party.

Herman told Bild newspaper on Monday that she couldn't understand what the fuss was about. "I expressly distanced myself from the 'Third Reich' at several points. One has to put my statement into its overall context. This isn't about Hitler's values, but about basic human values, which were abused in the 'Third Reich' and later abolished."

"Those who know me and read the book know that I fundamentally reject far-left and far-right parties. It's a sub-clause that has led to this misunderstanding."

The far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) embraced her comments and even invited her to advise the party on family policy.

"Frau Herman has now experienced first-hand what passes for freedom of speech in this country," NPD member Andreas Mohlau said in a statement on the party's Web site. "Why doesn't NDR approve of Frau Herman praising the protection of mothers in the Third Reich? Are laws to protect pregnant mothers bad just because they were decided by National Socialists?"

The Nazis offered incentives to German women to bear many children and introduced the "Lebensborn" program to create a master race of blond, blue-eyed kids.

Mothers with three and more children under 10 years old got "honorary cards" allowing them to jump shopping queues and get discounts on their rent payments. Cheap state loans were offered for parents, and there was the "Mother's Cross" medal: bronze for four children, silver for six and gold for eight.

Author Ralph Giordano, a Holocaust survivor, said Herman's comments "are the worst thing I've heard in a long time." He told Bild: "Frau Herman should know that what characterized the Third Reich wasn't how mothers were treated, because they were just meant to produce cannon fodder. What characterized it was the gas chambers."