Respected German historian Guido Knopp has compared a speech by actor Tom Cruise to the Church of Scientology with a call to war by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
In remarks described by the movement as "horrendous and disgraceful," Knopp, an expert on World War II history, said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper: "Tom Cruise's manner calls to mind Goebbels."
Knopp said it was bound to remind Germans of Goebbels' notorious call for "total war" issued in Berlin on February 18, 1943.
"[The] scene in which Cruise asks if the Scientologists should clean up the world and they all respond 'yes' will remind any German with an interest in history of Goebbels' infamous Sports Palace speech."