Policies towards the Churches Flashcards
The Nazis wanted total loyalty to Hitler and his beliefs. The churches were potentially a threat to his power and therefore Hitler needed to control the churches’ influence.
Differences in Nazi vs. Christian beliefs were:
- the Nazis viewed Hitler as an all-powerful leader whereas the Church taught not to worship false idols, and that God is the ultimate.
- where the Nazis believed in Aryan racial superiority, everyone was viewed as equal in the eyes of God in the Church.
- Dominance of the strong over the weak was emphasised in Nazi ideology, whereas the Church taught that the strong should look after the weak.
Hitler worried that the Catholic Church would oppose him because Catholics:
- were loyal to the pope
- usually supported the Catholic Centre Party
- sent their children to Catholic schools and the Catholic youth organisation.
This meant that they could possibly be more resistant towards the Nazis’ propaganda and be harder to assert control over since their loyalties lay elsewhere.
What was THE CONCORDAT?
In July 1933, Hitler agreed with the pope in a Concordat that Cathollics were free to worship and run their own schools in return for staying out of politics and allowing Hitler to dictate the Catholics’ political outlook.
Hitler broke the Concordat and….
- priests opposing the Nazis were harassed or sent to concentration camps
- Catholic schools were closed down
- Catholic youth organisations were banned
What was Hitler’s strategy?
To consolidate his power and prevent any possibility of religious groups turning against him so that he could ultimately replace religion in Germany with Nazism and their own Church.
- The Reich Church
was founded in 1933
Was a protestant Church founded by the Nazis.
The Churches were plastered with Nazi posters and flags and were run by Nazis in uniform and sometimes the SA, who labelled themselves as German Christians.
One of the main church opponents of Hitler was….
Pastor Martin Niemoller
Niemoller set up the CONFESSING CHURCH - however, he was not always against the Nazis.
Pre 1933, he felt that the Republic needed a strong leader like Hitler and he didn’t oppose Nazi restrictions on Jews.
However, during this period, Niemoller hated the Nazi’s interference in the Protestant Church and believed it was wrong to restrict Jews from being Christian.
He set up the Confessing Church in 1934.
Niemoller was arrested many times for speaking out against the Nazis and Hitler between 1934 and 1937. He was sent to a…
concentration camp where he stayed until the end of the war.
_________ Protestant pastors joined Niemoller’s _________ ____________ as a protest against Nazi policy.
6000
Confessing Church
About _______ pastors were arrested and sent to concentration camps
800
The Confessing Church was founded in 1934 and was made up of ________ Protestant Churches. They…
6000
opposed the Nazis and were led by Martin Niemoller.
It was eventually repressed by the Nazis.
