Church under Nazis Flashcards
On March 3rd 1933, Hitler declares the Christian church as what?
The “unshakeable foundation of the moral life of our people”
What comment made by Hitler in 1933 contradicted the one he made in March earlier that year?
“Neither Catholic or Protestant has any future left…. One is either a Christian or German… you can’t be both”
What were the SA ordered to do in order to assume early control of the church?
Attend church ceremonies
What did the Catholic church and the Nazi government sign together?
A concordat
What did the concordat detail?
It confirmed the dissolution of German Catholicism’s trade unions and political organisations, but guaranteed the church traditional rights to cultivate and promote the Catholic religion, to maintain Catholic schools and to appoint Catholic clergy
What is formed in 1933 to co-ordinate all protestant churches?
The Reich Church
Who makes up the Reich Church?
Bishop Muller leads it and 3000 protestant pastors join
A new Nazi supported protestant group, the German Christians, calls for what?
The cleansing of the gospels of non-German elements
What church breaks away from the state-supported Reich church?
The confessional church
Who are the two key members of the confessional church?
Martin Niemoller and Friedrich Bonhoeffer
What does the confessional church do in 1934?
It declares itself the legitimate protestant church of Germany
In terms of the church, who are arrested but released in 1934 ?
Two Protestant bishops
What does the pastoral letter issued at the Catholic Bishops Conference in 1934 state?
“Religion cannot be based on blood, race or other dogmas of human creation, but only on divine revelation”
The Nuremburg law in 1935 prohibited interracial marriage, which protestant pastor opposed this?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
What was set up and run by Dr Kerrl in 1935 to control the churches?
A new Department for Church Affairs
How many Prussian Protestant pastors are arrested by the Gestapo for condemning Nazi neo-paganism?
700
What organisation encouraged members not to teach religion?
the Nationalist Socialist Teachers’ League
What does Bishop Galen, bishop of Munster, do in 1936?
Thanks the Fuhrer for re-militarising the Rhineland and asks God to bless him for his endeavours
What does a Nazi campaign in 1936 pressurise children to do in relation to the church?
Pressurises children not to attend church schools or youth movements
Which religious people are arrested in 1936 and why?
Hundreds of Catholic priests and nuns who opposed the Nazis (charged with offences from illegal currency dealings to homosexuality)
What do the priests do with the German troops in 1936?
Accompany them into the Rhineland
What happens to hundreds of Confessional pastors in 1936?
They are arrested and sent to concentration camps and their church funds are confiscated (for circulating criticism for Nazi-ideology and policies)
How many confessional church pastors are arrested in 1937?
807 and Martin Niemoller
What does the Pope issue in 1937 which charges the Nazis with breaking the concordat and hostility towards the church?
A book called “With Burning Sorrow”
How many priests are put on trial for currency trafficking offences in 1937?
200
What are banned from schools in 1937?
Christmas Carols and Nativity Plays
What are priests banned from doing in schools in 1938?
Teaching religious education
Who orders pastors in his diocese to swear an oath of allegiance to the Fuhrer?
Bishop Marahrens
How many protestants does a 1939 census reveal there are in Germany?
42 million
Which Church organisation is abolished in 1939?
Church Schools
How many people are without faith by 1939?
Only 1.2 million
Pope Pius XI dies whilst writing an encyclical against anti-semitism, what does the new pope due in regards to Germany?
Nothing regarding that issue
How many Catholics are there in 1939?
19 million
Who orders a special service to celebrate Hitler’s survival of an assassination attempt?
Cardinal Faulhaber
What does Bishop Galen publicly protest against in 1941?
Euthanasia (Aktion T4)
What does the Church do in regards to the German attack on the USSR?
Welcomes it
A synod of the Prussian Confessional Church criticises what?
The extermination of people on the grounds of health and racial grounds: “We cannot permit superiors to relieve us of our responsibility before God”
