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Nominally, Hitler’s
Germany was a Christian nation. Well over ninety percent of Hitler’s
followers were members of some church or another. Too most Germans,
allegiance to the Church and to the Party did not present a conflict.
Hitler was very cautious about attacking the Church openly. This
does not mean, however, that he was willing to let it operate freely.
If the Church wanted to escape the Nazi Party’s wrath, they had to bend
to fit the Nazi agenda. Most German churchgoers and church leaders
made little or no protest against the Nazis, whether for their anti-Semitism,
general genocide, or persecution of the Church. Some, however, conscious
of the disparity between Nazi ideology and Christian theology, resisted
their own government and sought to counteract the evils of Nazism.
The Barmen Declaration and the life of Dietrich
Bonhoeffer provide potent examples of both organized and individual resistance
to Nazism within the Church. |
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