Jerusalem Post Online
28 June 2007
By Miriam A. Shaviv
The life of a celebrity Scientologist isn’t easy. Just ask its posterboy, Tom Cruise. The avid follower of L. Ron Hubbard’s church has become better known for his religious leanings than his acting career in recent years, and the publicity that he calls to his philosophies is beginning to catch up with him. After announcing that he planned to produce and star in a film about a plot to kill Adolf Hitler, Germany’s Defense Ministry announced that the filmmaker would be barred from filming at German military sites crucial to production because of Cruise’s “cultish” beliefs. Germany does not recognize the Church of Scientology and says it masquerades as a religion to make money, a charge Scientology leaders reject.

Cruise is poised to play Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, leader of the unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Hitler in July 1944 with a bomb hidden in his “Wolf’s Lair” headquarters. The bomb went off, but only wounded the Fuehrer.

Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer issued a statement saying that the filmmakers “will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult.

“In general, the Bundeswehr (German military) has a special interest in the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944, and Stauffenberg’s person.”

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