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Nazis and Christians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

Beate Ruhm von Oppen
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Extract

The publication of John Conway's book, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933–45 may be a suitable moment for a comprehensive look at the wider subject of Nazism and Christianity and the recent literature about it. Ever since Rolf Hochhuth's Deputy with its travesty of the tragedy of the Jews of Europe, the world has resounded with clamor about the silence of the Deputy of Christ at the time when the blood brothers of the founder of the faith were being slaughtered.

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , April 1969 , pp. 392 - 424
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1969

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References

1 Conway, J. S., The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933–45 (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1968Google Scholar; and New York: Basic Books, 1969).

2 Hochhuth, Rolf, The Deputy, trans, by , Richard and Winston, Clara (New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1964Google Scholar).

3 Friedländer, Saul, Pie XII et le IIIe Reich. Documents (Paris:Editions du Seuil, 1964Google Scholar).

Friedländer, Saul, Pius XII. und das Dritte Reich. Eine Dokumentation (Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1965Google Scholar).

Friedländer, Saul, Pius XII and the Third Reich. A Documentation, translated from the French and German by Charles Fullman (New York: Knopf, 1966Google Scholar).

4 Lewy, Guenter, The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964Google Scholar).

5 In Germany, too, the limelight was somewhat more on the Catholics, helped by Hochhuth's play and the serialization in Der Spiegel of Lewy's book, helped also by an articulate body of Catholic liberal intellectuals. And perhaps another reason is that Catholicism and the papacy are more picturesque and therefore more subject to publicity.

But the German literature about Protestantism is, if anything, more extensive. Despite some very basic differences in their history, there are certain parallels in the historiography of the two denominations. On the Protestant side, too, there was a phase of martyrology and eyewitness-accounting and documentation, in which Wilhelm Niemöller, the brother of Martin, was particularly active; then “legend-mongering” was attacked—notablv in Friedrich Baumgärtel's Wider die Kirchenkampflegenden; (Neuendettelsau 1958); for some years now there has been a steady scholarly output, some of it sponsored by a commission for research into the history of the church struggle. So far there are eighteen volumes and three supplements in the series Arbeiten zur Geschichte des Kirchenkatnpfes (Göttingen: 1958—) a number of them being regional studies.

Among the basic differences on the Protestant side as compared with the Catholic are the diversity of Protestant church structure, the Nazi attempt to make the so-called “German Christians” into a State Church, and the crystallization of the Confessing (Church (Bekennende Kirche) in reaction to the government's interference and demands.

An up-to-date, comprehensive, and critical review of the literature on the Protestants can be found in Jürgen Schmidt, Die Erforschung des Kirchenkampfes. Die Entwick-lung der Literatur und der gegenwärtige Stand der Erkenntnis, published as No. 149 of Theologische Existenz heute by Christian Kaiser Verlag (München 1968).

Bethge's Bonhoeffer (see no. 69) is a landmark in this vast but rather esoteric field. The book combines biography with a picture of the period, including some of its theological and ecumenical developments.

6 Troeltsch, Ernst, The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches, trans, by Wyon, Olive (New York 1960), 338Google Scholar–39.

7 Lewy, 336.

8 Lewy, 336.

9 Zahn, Gordon C., In Solitary Witness: The Life and Death of Franz Jägerstätter New York 1964Google Scholar).

10 Ibid., 215.

11 Ibid., 231–32.

12 Shuster, George N., Like a Mighty Army: Hitler versus Established Religion (New York 1935Google Scholar); Mason, John Brown, Hitler's First Foes: A Study in Religion and Politics (Minneapolis 1936); A. S. Duncan-Jones, The Struggle for Religious Freedom in Germany (London 1938Google Scholar); Micklem, Nathaniel, National Socialism and the Roman Catholic Church, Being an Account of the Conflict Between the National Socialist Government of Germany and the Roman Catholic Church 1933–1938 (London 1939Google Scholar).

18 Zahn, Gordon C., German Catholics and Hitler's Wars: A Study in Social Control (New York 1962Google Scholar); and Lewy.

14 Gerstenmaier, Eugen, “Der Kreisauer Kreis; zu dem Buch Gerrit van Roons “Neuordnung im Widerstand,'” Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, xv (July 1967), 243Google Scholar.

15 Shuster had done it in 1935, Duncan-Jones in 1938 (see n. 12), and Zipfel (see n. 58) in 1965.

16 That is, to counteract the influence of the clergy, to curb the Christian Democrats, to turn voters away from them. Whom these would turn to seemed less clear.

17 Conway, xvii.

18 Ibid., xxix.

19 Ibid., 449–50.

20 Zahn, in his earlier book (see n. 13) made an exception by providing long footnote quotations in German. In his later book on Jägerstätter he gives only the translated texts—but then Jägerstätter's own writings form one-eighth of the book and appear as Appendix 1. There is a German translation of that book, with the documents in the original: Er folgte seinem Gewissen. Das einsame Zeugnis des Franz jägerstätter. Verlag Styria (Graz-Wien-Köln 1967).

21 In the series Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918–1945, published by the British and American governments in London and Washington, D.C. The publication of the Anglo-American translations preceded that of the originals, of which a number of volumes exist under the title Akten zur deutschen auswartigen Politik, published in Baden-Baden and later in Bonn, 1950—.

22 Friedländer, Pius XII and the Third Reich, 141.

23 Friedländer, Pie XII et le IIIe Reich, 135.

24 Friedländer, Pius XII, und das Dritte Reich, 102.

25 See below, notes 36 and 37.

26 The Anglo-American edition of Friedländer says (126): “Gerstein was at the Belsen [Belzek] camp.” The translator seems to have taken these for alternative forms of the same name. But Belsen was in Western Germany, Belzec in occupied Poland. The German edition—see n. 24, p. 93—has “Belsen,” the French the correct “Belzec.” See n. 23, p. 123.

27 The “Gerstein report,” as it is now known, was written on 4 May 1945. See “Augenzeugenbericht zu den Massenvergasungen,” Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, I (April 1953), 177–94. During the war Gerstein tried to communicate something like it, or its main contents, to people, including the papal nuncio in Berlin and a Swedish diplomat, who might, he hoped, help make the extermination program known and get it stopped. He met with no success. He is one of the heroes of Hochhuth's play, the other being a fictitious disobedient Jesuit who opposes the Pope and becomes the real deputy of Christ.

28 Cf. Erb, Alfons, Bernhard Lichtenberg, Domprobst von St. Hedwig zu Berlin (5th edition, Berlin 1968Google Scholar), 83ff.

29 Hans Müller, Katholische Kirche und Nationalsozialismus. Dokumente 1930–1935 (München 1963).

30 E.g., Lewy, Guenter, Die katholische Kirche und das Dritte Reich (München 1965Google Scholar). It is a pity the German version does not state whether in all cases of quotation original texts were reinstated or how much retranslation there is, with its attendant risks.

31 Baynes, Norman H., ed., The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, 1922–39 (Oxford 1942), 1Google Scholar, 371.

32 Rolf Hochhuth, The Deputy, 13.

33 Hochhuth, Rolf, Der Stellvertreter. Schauspiel (Reinbek bei Hamburg 1963), 15Google Scholar.

34 Hochhuth, The Deputy, 195.

35 Hochhuth, Stellvertreter, 155–56, italics in original.

36 Pierre Blet, Angelo Martini, Burkhart Schneider, eds., Actes et documents du Saint Siège relatifs à la seconde guerre mondiale (Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1965 —).

I. Le Saint Siège et la guerre en Europe, mars 1939—août 1940 (1965).

II. Lettres de Pie XII aux évêques allemands 1939–1944 (1966).

III. Le Saint Siège et la situation religieuse en Pologne et dans les Pays Baltes 1939–1945 (in two parts, 1939–1941 and 1942–1945. Both published in 1967).

IV. Le Saint Siège et la guerre en Europe, juin 1940—juin 1941 (1967).

37 Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Zeitgeschichte bei der Katholischen Akademie in Bayern. Herausgegeben von Konrad Repgen (Mainz: Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, 1965—). Reihe A: Quellen:

Der Notenwechsel zwischen dem Heiligen Stuhl und der deutschen Reichsregierung.

I. Von der Ratifizierung des Reichskonkordats bis zur Enzyklika “Mit brennender Sorge.” Bearbeitet von Dieter Albrecht (Mainz 1965).Google Scholar

Die kirchliche Lage in Bayern nach den Regierungspräsidentenberichten 1933–1943. I. Regierungsbezirk Oberbayern. Bearbeitet von Helmut Witetschek (Mainz 1966).

— II. Regierungsbezirk Ober und Mittelfranken. Bearbeitet von Helmut Witetschek (Mainz 1967).

Die Briefe Pius' XII. an die deutschen Bischöfe 1930—1944, Herausgegeben von Burk-hart Schneider in Zusammenarbeit mit Pierre Blet und Angelo Martini (Mainz 1966).

Akten deutscher Bischöfe über die Lage der Kirche. I. 1933–1934. Bearbeitet von Bernhard Stasiewski (Mainz 1968).

Reihe B: Forschungen:

vol. 1. Ludwig Volk, Der bayerische Episkopat und der Nationalsozialismus 1930–1934 (Mainz 1965).

38 Böckenförde, Ernst-Wolfgang, “Der deutsche Katholizismus im Jahre 1933: eine kritische Betrachtung,” Hochland, LIII (February 1961), 215Google Scholar–39.

39 Hochland itself published a reply by Hans Buchheim, “Der deutsche Katholizismus im Jahr 1933: Eine Auseinandersetzung mit Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde,” Ibid. (August 1961), 497–515, and let Böckenförde have the last word in a second article, “Der deutsche Katholizismus im Jahre 1933: Stellungnahme zu einer Diskussion,” Ibid., LIV (February 1962), 217–45. A summary of the controversy up to 1961 with references to related literature, can be found in Beate Ruhm von Oppen, “Catholics and Nazis in 1933,” Wiener Library Bulletin, xvi (January 1962), 8.

10 Der Notenwechsel, see n. 37, xxii-xxiii.

11 Die Briefe Pius XII, see n. 37, 355–56. On 10 July 1940 he reported that so far scarcely a Catholic priest—in contrast to the Protestant pastors—had thought it necessary to hold a thanksgiving service for the numerous and big lightning victories of the German Wehrmacht or to hold a service for the fallen. But now this was being remedied in some places (357).

42 Rauschning, Hermann, Hitler Speaks: A Series of Political Conversations with Adolf Hitler on His Real Aims. (London 1939), 59Google Scholar.

43 Ibid., 60.

44 See n. 37.

45 Neuhäusler, Johann, Kreuz und Hakenkreuz. Der Kampf des Nationalsozidismus gegen die katholische Kirche und der (kirchliche Widerstand (München 1946Google Scholar).

46 Lewy, 354.

47 Ibid., 40; and Neuhäusler, Johann, Saat des Bösen: Kirchenkampf im Dritten Reich (München 1964), 156Google Scholar. This book is a shorter account of the church struggle, with fewer documents.

48 The German has autoritär, of which “authoritarian” seems a better translation than Lewy's “authoritative,” for which there would be another German word.

49 Hans Müller—see n. 29, p. 77.

50 Ibid., 76–78, where the draft and final version can be compared.

51 Gordon Zahn, Jägerstätter, 177.

52 Hans Müller—see n. 29, p. 77.

53 Niebuhr, Reinhold, Man's Nature and His Communities: Essays on the Dynamics and Enigmas of Man's Personal and Social Existence (New York 1966Google Scholar), 18.

54 Guenter Lewy, 40.

55 It is going to be published in a forthcoming volume in Reihe A: Quellen, of the Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Zeitgeschichte bei der Katholischen Akademie in Bayern which will be edited by Dr. Heinz Boberach of the German Federal Archives in Koblenz. For microfilm see Guides to German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria, Va., No. 39, Records of the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police (Part III), (Washington 1963), 136: National Archives Microcopy T-175, Roll 462, frame 2980982–2981070.

56 See Die Kirchliche Lage, 1,—see n. 37—174 and 282, reports of May 1937 and 1938 respectively, die first on Protestants, the second on Catholics.

57 It is nothing short of tragic that the immense industry of which Lewy's book gives evidence should have resulted in a book so right in many details and so wrong in many of its assessments and, particularly, in its overall balance. Of course some of the points at issue are matters of opinion and I am aware of the possibility that sometimes I may have overemphasized an aspect that was underemphasized before. All I can say is that Lewy's picture strikes one agnostic observer as a misrepresentation of what went on in the matter of the Catholic church and Nazi Germany.

58 Zipfel, Friedrich, Kirchenkampf in Deutschland 1933–1945. Religionsverfolgung und Selbstbehauptung der Kirchen in der nationalsozialistischen Zeit. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1965Google Scholar).

59 Zipfel, 272–326.

60 Müller, n. 29, 276–86. It was later withdrawn.

61 Ibid., 282.

62 Lewy, 152 and elsewhere.

63 Zipfel, 275.

64 Ibid., 277–78.

65 Ibid., 291.

66 Ibid., 292.

67 Ibid., 292–94.

68 Duncan-Jones, see n. 12, pp. 7–8. Among “all of us” he may have wished to include the Anglican Bishop of Gloucester, who was most pronouncedly opposed to the Bishop and Dean of Chichester and their view of the German church struggle. In his view all the German churches needed to do to keep out of trouble was to recognize the separation of church and state as laid down by the regime—i.e., keep out of politics. This profound disagreement between the bishops of Chichester and Gloucester was not confined to them but put certain inhibitions on the English Primate too.

69 Bethge, Eberhard, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Theologe, Christ, Zeitgenosse (Christian Kaiser Verlag: Miinchen 1967Google Scholar), 354. This view was close to Duncan-Jones's, but actually went beyond it, and that in the first year of Hitler's power. Bonhoeffer was one of the Bishop of Chichester's principal sources of information on the church struggle in Germany, and probably the most important one. The parliamentary reports about proceedings in the House of Lords and the correspondence columns of The Times show the disagreements among the bishops of the Church of England on the subject. Cf. also Alfred Wiener, “Untersuchungen zum Widerhall des deutschen Kirchen-kampfes in England (1933–38),” in Beloff, Max, ed., On the Track of Tyranny: Essays presented by the Wiener Library to Leonard G. Montefiore, O.B.E., on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday (London 1960), 211Google Scholar–32.

70 Lewy, 268.

71 Duncan-Jones, 7–8.

72 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Widerstand und Ergebung. Briefe und Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft. Herausgegeben von Eberhard Bethge (Munchen 1964), 10. My own translation. A revised English translation of this book is available as Letters and Papers from Prison (New York 1967). It still takes risks, occasionally, with key terms; but it is an improvement on the earlier unrevised edition. This passages comes on 2.

78 The whole piece, “Nach zehn Jahren,” (“After Ten Years”) can be found on 9–25 of Widerstand und Ergebung and 1–17 of Letters and Papers from Prison, the most relevant section being the one entitled “Wer hält stand?” or “Who stands fast?” on pp. 10–12 and 2–4 respectively.

74 Lapide, Pinchas E., Three Popes and the Jews (New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1967Google Scholar).

75 Heer, Friedrich, Gottes erste Liebe. 2000 Jahre Judentum und Christentum. Genesis des österreichischen Katholiken Adolf Hitler (München 1967Google Scholar), ii. The first words of the first foreword—there are two, for the author felt the need to add another after the Middle Eastern war of June 1967—are “Mankind is exploding.” Period. And that breathless style is kept up throughout. The second volume is called Der Glaube des Adolf Hitler. Anatomie einer politischen Religiosität (München: Bechtle Verlag, 1968).

76 The editor of Der Spiegel acclaimed the first as an “atom bomb.” A third one has been announced.

77 Friedländer, see n. 3, p. 236.

78 Deutsch, Harold C., The Conspiracy Against Hitler in the Twilight War (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1968Google Scholar).

79 Conway, 288–90.

80 A German of the Resistance: The Last Letters of Count Helmuth fames von Moltke (Oxford 1948), 38Google Scholar.

81 Ibid., 47.

82 Ibid., 40.

83 Conway, 290.

84 Bethge, Bonhoeffer. An English translation is in preparation. It will be an abridged version of the original, which will thus remain indispensable to specialists.

85 A German of the Resistance, 28.