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NAZI assault on religion religious sects Protestants
The NAZI Assault on Religion: Religious Sects--The Protestants
Figure 1.-- This portrait was labeled "Einfegnung 1935". That means that the boys here took part in the Confirmation mass. (Lutherans like Anglicans celebrate the mass.) Notice the Lutheran (Evangelical) Protestant pastor at the back. About half the boys wear new formal suits. The other half wear their Hitler Youth uniforms. This raises a range of questions. Did the boys in their HJ uniforms do so because of their or their parents political outlook? What did the pastor think about this? And did some of the boys in suits wish they could wear their uniform? In 1935, many of these boys probably had not yet joined the HJ or aceeded to their parents wishes. We also wonder if the local HJ leaders encouraged the boys to wear their uniforms rather than suits. It should be stressed that these boys and their parents had none of the infomation that we have about th NAZIs and what Hitler and the NAZIs were doing. And for that matter, most of the most horifying NAZI crimes only began 4 years later with the start of World War II (September 1939). .
Protestant churches experienced a steep numerical decline in the 1920s and 30s. A number of factors were involved here. World War I itself caused many Europeans, not only the Germans, to question their traditional values--including religious beliefs. The growing influence of Socialists and Communists were surely another factor. Some historians describe the "morally uncertain years" of Weimar Germany. Thus many Protestants especially Protestant churchmen reacted differently than Catholics to the NAZI seizure of power (1933). And many Protestant churches reported increased church attendance in the early NAZI period. Hitler himself was born in Austria and raised a Catholic, but on several occasions said that he was nearer in spirit to Protestantism which after all was in part began as a German national movement against the trans-national Catholic church. Many German Protestants believed that the NAZI regime would mean a revival of Christianity as he spoke about traditional values and moved to suppress the Communists and Socialists. Many German Protestants were fiercely nationalist and thus impressed by the NAZI appeal to German nationalism. Many Protestants, including pastors, joined the NAZI Party. (This was not unknown among Catholics, but was much less prevalent.) Only slowly did Protestants begin to realize that the NAZIs were not about to revitalize Christianity. And by then it was too late. The suppression of Christian youth movements, the campaign against confessional schools, and the take over of Christian charities were two of the many steps that signaled NAZI attitudes toward traditional religion. Limits on celebrating religious holidays was another NAZI measure. The relationships between the Protestant churches and the NAZIs was clearly deteriorating after a few years of NAZI rule. The NAZIs also began dismissing churchmen from government posts.
Historical Background
Martin Luther and the Germans of course were responsible for the Reformation, one of the great steps in the development of Western civilization along with the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Luther and the Reformation is normally seen in religious terms, but there are are a range of non-religious matters that are important to understand about Luther. First, he was a vicious anti-Semite. Second, he was a fervent German nationalist. And the Reformation was in many ways the beginning of German nationalism. Third, Luther should believed that clerics should avoid dabbling in politics. His belief that religious figures should defer to state officials. This is one reason that he was such a vocal critic of the German Peasants War (1524-25).
Decline of Religion
Protestant churches experienced a steep numerical decline in the 1920s and 30s. A number of factors were involved here. World War I itself caused many Europeans, not only the Germans, to question their traditional values--including religious beliefs. The growing influence of Socialists and Communists were surely another factor. Some historians describe the 'morally uncertain years' of Weimar Germany.
NAZI Attitudes
Thus many Protestants especially Protestant churchmen reacted differently than Catholics to the NAZI seizure of power (1933). And many Protestant churches reported increased church attendance in the early NAZI period. Hitler himself was born in Austria and raised a Catholic, but on several occasions said that he was nearer in spirit to Protestantism which after all was in part began as a German national movement against the trans-national Catholic church.
Protestant Attitudes
Many German Protestants believed that the NAZI regime would mean a revival of Christianity as he spoke about traditional values and moved to suppress the Communists and Socialists. Many German Protestants were fiercely nationalist and thus impressed by the NAZI appeal to German nationalism. Many Protestants, including pastors, joined the NAZI Party. (This was not unknown among Catholics, but was much less prevalent.)
Here a major figure influencing the German Church was Luther. He was of course an anti-Semite and a German nationalist. We are not sure to what extent this influenced the German Reformed Church in the 1930s. Certainly both were factors. Perhaps more important, at least theologically, was Luther's caution about political involvement. This appears to be part of the Luther tradition influencing the German church with Biblical confirmation, Romans 13:17 on submission to state authorities. One author maintains that as a result most of the German Reformed (Lutheran) Church sided with the NAZIs, either directly or by default. He decries it as a 'well-established Lutheran theological box" that trapped the German church in 'an amicable relationship between church and state'. [Metaxas]
Realization
Only slowly did Protestants begin to realize that the NAZIs were not about to volatilize Christianity. And by then it was too late. The suppression of Christian youth movements, the campaign against confessional schools, and the take over of Christian charities were two of the many steps that signaled NAZI attitudes toward traditional religion. Limits on celebrating religious holidays was another NAZI measure. The relationships between the Catholic Protestant churches and the NAZIs was clearly deteriorating after a few years of NAZI rule. The NAZIs also began dismissing churchmen from government posts. The Protestant churches never fully broke with the NAZIs even when the brutality and genocidal nature of Hitler and the NAZIs became increasingly important.
Failure
One of the Great failures of German Protestant (reformed Church Church was the failure to confront the NAZIs. There were rare exceptions like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but startlingly few.
The Catholic Church made some effort at resistance, but within the Protestant Church there was barely a whimper of protest. Of course it took courage to do so. But the absence of any real resistance speaks volumes. There were many Catholic martyrs. many priests German and other Catholic priests died in Gestapo custody or the various NAZI camps, but virtually not Protestant ministers. The NAZIs targeted the Catholic Church but this was unnecessary with the Reformed (Protestant) church. One American historian asks the crucial question. "But four hundred years after Luther, when God looked to his Church to stand against the great evil that had come upon upon Germany and that would devastate much of the world and murder millions , they balked, using as their chief excuse this outdated application of Paul's words from two millennia before. They felt religiously justified in doing nothing , and the unprecedented evil results of their pious inaction would make the world gasp to this day, as it snuggles to take in how it is possible that any nation ostensibly Christian could have in any way allowed such things to take place." [Metaxas]
Sources
Metaxas. Eric. Letter to the American Church (Sam Books: 2022), 159p. Metaxas has written three biographies on important religious figures, William Wilberforce (2007), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2011), and Martin Luther (2017).
