Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) was a major political leader of the Indian National Congress, a pivotal figure in the Indian independence movement and the first and longest-serving prime minister of independent India.

Jawaharlal Nehru in "The Last Article"
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1947) was a leader in India's struggle for independence from Britain and later Germany. Unlike his colleague, Mohandas Gandhi, Nehru had a rudamentary grasp of the inherent immorality of Nazism which allowed it to prove remarkably resistant to the non-violent pressures of Satyagraha. He remembered the testimony by a Jew named Wiesenthal, who'd fled from Europe and into India, although Gandhi refused to believe it.

Nehru joined Gandhi on a march up Chandi Chauk, the Street of Silversmiths, toward Qutb Road, in violation of a German ban. When German troops met Gandhi and his people, Gandhi's unflappable response left them puzzled, and so they simply began walking along side the marching Indians.

However, word soon reached Walther Model, the senior German official, who arrived on the scene and personally took control. After several demands that the demonstration break-up, Model dropped a handkerchief on the ground, and warned Gandhi that if anyone passed it, the Germans would open fire. Nehru warned Gandhi that he believed Model would order his men to shoot. Gandhi acknowledged this, and proceeded, prepared to give up his life. Nehru followed. However, many of Gandhi's followers marched ahead of him, to his horror, and were shot down. Nehru and another man promptly tackled Gandhi, keeping him under cover. They immediately pulled Gandhi to safety, much to his chagrin.

Once safe, Gandhi began taking stock of events. He realized that this incident, unlike the Amritsar massacre was not a moment of panic. Nehru agreed, but saw a silver lining in that there would be an immediate work stoppage. Gandhi suffered another shock when he learned that Model had ordered the "mercy" killings of the wounded in Qutb Road. Still, he took for granted that Model would be censured. He was horrified when a radio broadcast by William Joyce announced that Reichminister Reinhard Heydrich congratulated Model on his actions, and issued a price on both Gandhi and Nehru's heads.

Gandhi and Nehru became fugitives, until a Muslim turned them in to the authorities. Nehru was promptly executed.