Nazism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Religion === {{Main|Religion in Nazi Germany}} {{further|Catholic Church and Nazi Germany|German Christians (movement)|German Faith Movement|Kreuz und Adler|Positive Christianity||Religious aspects of Nazism|Anti-Masonry#Nazi Germany and occupied Europe|Religious views of Adolf Hitler}} [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-15234, Berlin, Luthertag.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Members of the [[German Christians (movement)|German Christians]] organisation celebrating Luther Day in Berlin in 1933. A speech is given by Bishop Hossenfelder.]] [[File:Orsen.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Hitler in 1935 with [[Cesare Orsenigo]], the [[Catholic Church]]'s [[nuncio to Germany]]]] The [[National Socialist Program|Nazi Party Programme]] of 1920 guaranteed freedom for all religious denominations which were not hostile to the State and it also endorsed [[Positive Christianity]] in order to combat "the Jewish-materialist spirit".<ref name="documents"/> Positive Christianity was a modified version of [[Christianity]] which emphasised [[Racial hygiene|racial purity]] and [[nationalism]].{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=182}} The Nazis were aided by theologians such as [[Ernst Bergmann (philosopher)|Ernst Bergmann]]. In his work ''Die 25 Thesen der Deutschreligion'' (''Twenty-five Points of the German Religion''), Bergmann held the view that the [[Old Testament]] of the [[Bible]] was inaccurate along with portions of the [[New Testament]], claimed that [[Jesus]] was not a Jew but was instead of Aryan origin and he also claimed that Adolf Hitler was the new [[messiah]].{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=182}} Hitler denounced the Old Testament as "[[Satan]]'s Bible" and using components of the New Testament he attempted to prove that Jesus was both an Aryan and an antisemite by citing passages such as [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8:44 John 8:44] where he noted that Jesus is yelling at "the Jews", as well as saying to them "your father is the devil" and the [[Cleansing of the Temple]], which describes Jesus' whipping of the "Children of the Devil".<ref name="Redles60">David Redles. ''Hitler's Millennial Reich: Apocalyptic Belief and the Search for Salvation''. New York; London: New York University Press, 2005, p. 60.</ref> Hitler claimed that the New Testament included distortions by [[Paul the Apostle]], who Hitler described as a "mass-murderer turned saint".<ref name="Redles60"/> In their propaganda, the Nazis used the writings of [[Martin Luther]], the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[Reformation|Reformer]]. They publicly displayed an original edition of Luther's ''[[On the Jews and their Lies]]'' during the annual Nuremberg rallies.<ref name="understandably"/><ref name="baylor"/> The Nazis endorsed the pro-Nazi Protestant [[German Christians (movement)|German Christians]] organisation.{{cn|date=September 2023}} The Nazis were initially very hostile to Catholics because most Catholics supported the [[German Centre Party]]. Catholics opposed the Nazis' promotion of [[compulsory sterilisation]] of those whom they deemed inferior and the [[Catholic Church]] forbade its members to vote for the Nazis. In 1933, extensive Nazi violence occurred against Catholics due to their association with the Centre Party and their opposition to the Nazi regime's sterilisation laws.<ref name="international27"/> The Nazis demanded that Catholics declare their loyalty to the German state.<ref name="Robert Anthony Krieg 2004, p. 4"/> In their propaganda, the Nazis used elements of Germany's Catholic history, in particular the German Catholic [[Teutonic Knights]] and their campaigns in [[Eastern Europe]]. The Nazis identified them as "sentinels" in the East against "Slavic chaos", though beyond that symbolism, the influence of the Teutonic Knights on Nazism was limited.<ref name="interaction"/> Hitler also admitted that the Nazis' night rallies were inspired by the Catholic rituals which he had witnessed during his Catholic upbringing.<ref name="Roger Griffin 2005, p. 85"/> The Nazis did seek official reconciliation with the Catholic Church and they endorsed the creation of the pro-Nazi Catholic ''[[Kreuz und Adler]]'', an organisation which advocated a form of [[national Catholicism]] that would reconcile the Catholic Church's beliefs with Nazism.<ref name="Robert Anthony Krieg 2004, p. 4"/> On 20 July 1933, a concordat (''[[Reichskonkordat]]'') was signed between Nazi Germany and the Catholic Church, which in exchange for acceptance of the Catholic Church in Germany required German Catholics to be loyal to the German state. The Catholic Church then ended its ban on members supporting the Nazi Party.<ref name="Robert Anthony Krieg 2004, p. 4"/> During the Second World War and the fanaticization of National Socialism, priests and nuns increasingly came into the focus of the Gestapo and the SS. In the concentration camps, separate priestly blocks were formed and any church resistance was strictly persecuted. The monastery sister [[Maria Restituta Kafka]] was sentenced to death by the People's Court and executed only for a harmless song critical of the regime.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.doew.at/erinnern/biographien/spurensuche/maria-restituta-helene-kafka-1894-1943|title=DÖW – Erinnern – Biographien – Spurensuche – Maria Restituta (Helene Kafka, 1894–1943)|website=www.doew.at}}</ref> Polish priests came en masse to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Catholic resistance groups like those around [[Roman Karl Scholz]] were persecuted uncompromisingly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://roman-karl-scholz.zurerinnerung.at/|title=Zur Erinnerung an Dr. Roman Karl Scholz|website=roman-karl-scholz.zurerinnerung.at}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.noen.at/klosterneuburg/klosterneuburg-gedenken-an-widerstandskaempfer-roman-scholz-klosterneuburg-roman-scholz-148011362|title=Gedenken an Widerstandskämpfer Roman Scholz|date=25 May 2019|website=www.noen.at}}</ref> While the Catholic resistance was often anti-war and passive, there are also examples of actively combating National Socialism. The group around the priest [[Heinrich Maier]] approached the American secret service and provided them with plans and location sketches of for [[V-2 rocket]]s, [[Tiger tank]]s, [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]] and [[Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet]] and their production sites so that they could successfully bomb the factories.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ausstellung.de.doew.at/popup.php?t=img&id=240|title=DöW – Dokumentationsarchiv des Österreichischen Widerstandes|website=ausstellung.de.doew.at}}</ref><ref>[https://www.zeit.de/1996/02/Die_Spione_aus_dem_Pfarrhaus/seite-2 Die Spione aus dem Pfarrhaus]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.derstandard.at/story/1271378203933/im-netz-der-verraeter|title=Im Netz der Verräter|website=Der Standard}}</ref><ref>Hecht, Rauch, Rodt: Geköpft für Christus & Österreich. (1995).</ref><ref>Pirker, Peter (2012). Suberversion deutscher Herrschaft. Der britische Geheimdienst SOE und Österreich. Zeitgeschichte im Kontext. 6. Göttingen: V & R Unipress. p. 252. {{ISBN|978-3-86234-990-6}}.</ref> After the war, their history was often forgotten, also because they acted against the express instructions of their church authorities.<ref>Erika Weinzierl: Kirchlicher Widerstand gegen den Nationalsozialismus. In: Themen der Zeitgeschichte und der Gegenwart. Vienna 2004, {{ISBN|3-8258-7549-0}}, p. 76.</ref><ref>Helga Thoma "Mahner-Helfer-Patrioten: Porträts aus dem österreichischen Widerstand" (2004), p 159.</ref><ref>Benedicta Maria Kempner: "Priester vor Hitlers Tribunalen" (1966).</ref> Historian [[Michael Burleigh]] claims that Nazism used Christianity for political purposes, but such use required that "fundamental tenets were stripped out, but the remaining diffuse religious emotionality had its uses".<ref name="Roger Griffin 2005, p. 85"/> Burleigh claims that Nazism's conception of spirituality was "self-consciously pagan and primitive".<ref name="Roger Griffin 2005, p. 85"/> Historian [[Roger Griffin]] rejects the claim that Nazism was primarily pagan, noting that although there were some influential neo-paganists in the Nazi Party, such as Heinrich Himmler and [[Alfred Rosenberg]], they represented a minority and their views did not influence Nazi ideology beyond its use for symbolism. It is noted that Hitler denounced Germanic paganism in ''Mein Kampf'' and condemned Rosenberg's and Himmler's paganism as "nonsense".<ref name="totalitarianism"/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page