Madam, – Richard Pine (“To inflict unity on Europe’s diverse peoples is so divisive”, Opinion, May 5th) attributes to Winston Churchill the coining of the term “Iron Curtain” in 1946. Like the artist he was, Churchill stole it.
However, the expression was used in a broadcast on May 2nd, 1945 by the German foreign minister appointed by admiral Doenitz, Hitler’s immediate successor as German chancellor.
A 50th anniversary reprint of the VE Day edition of the Times of London attributed the expression to Doenitz himself, but Google sources would contradict it. – Yours, etc,