Respected German historian Guido Knopp has compared a speech by US actor Tom Cruise to the Church of Scientology with a call to war by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
Knopp, an expert on World War II history, said in an interview with Bild newspaper published on Sunday: "Tom Cruise's manner calls to mind Goebbels."
The historian was commenting on a video recording of a rousing sermon Cruise delivered to fellow Scientology members four years ago that was recently posted on the Internet.
The "Mission Impossible" star is seen asking fellow members of the church: "Should we clean this place up?"
Knopp said it was bound to remind Germans of Goebbels' notorious call for "total war" issued in Berlin on February 18, 1943.
