religion under the Nazis

Question 1

was Nazism anti-clerical?

Answer 1

YES
as suggested by the 25 point programme

Question 2

which Nazis were outrightly anti-Christian?

Answer 2

Heydrich and Himmler

Question 3

what was the German Faith Movement?

Answer 3

a teutonic paganism which looked to embrace Nazi ideology in the form of religion

Question 4

what were the main themes of the German Faith Movement?

Answer 4

the ‘Blood and Soil’ ideology

replacement of Christian ceremonies with pagan equivalents

rejection of Christianity as a whole

the cult of Hitler

Question 5

what did the Day of Potsdam Nazis show to the German Catholics?

Answer 5

impression of unity between the Protestant Church and State

Question 6

what were German Catholics afraid of when Hitler came to power?

Answer 6

a potential repeat of Kulturkampf

Question 7

what was Kulturkampf?

Answer 7

period of struggle for German Christians when Bismarck tried to diminish the role of the Catholic Church in Germany

Question 8

how did the Church look to safeguard their position with the Nazis?

Answer 8

signed a Concordant in July 1933

Question 9

what was agreed in the 1933 Concordat?

Answer 9

• Nazis would guarantee Catholic freedom
• Nazis would not interfere with Catholic property and rights
• Nazi would allow Catholic education to remain

in return the Catholic Church would play no role in German politics and would accept the Nazi regime

Question 10

when was the Ministry of Church Affairs created?

Answer 10

1935

Question 11

what did the Ministry of Church affairs do?

Answer 11

Catholic schools were suppressed and closed down
Catholic youth groups were banned
Catholic newspapers were shut down
removal of crucifixes

Question 12

did the Church hierarchy do much to oppose anti-Catholic Nazi action?

Answer 12

nope

Question 13

who led opposition to the Nazis from the church?

Answer 13

Catholic priests and members of their parish

Question 14

when did the Pope release his scathing encyclical on the actions of the Nazis?

Answer 14

March 1937

Question 15

what was the Pope’s encyclical called?

Answer 15

Mit Brennender Sorge

Question 16

what did the Pope’s encyclical state?

Answer 16

was written in German (intended to be read by German Catholics)

criticised the actions of the Nazis and urged Hitler to abide by the Concordat

Question 17

which Catholic bishop spoke out against Aktion T4?

Answer 17

von Galen

Question 18

how many Catholic priests were sent to Dachau?

Answer 18

400

Question 19

concl of religion under the Nazis

Answer 19

the Nazi’s own faith movement massively failed with only 5% of the population following the German Faith Movement

loyalty to Christianity remained as many German Christians stood up and opposed the Nazis

Question 20

concl of opposition by the Church

Answer 20

was not effective
was poorly coordinated with members in the Church hierarchy playing absolutely no role in oppositon

did not denounce the regime as a unified organisation, instead individuals were the ones sticking their necks out

Question 21

why was there a reluctance to oppose the Nazi regime by the Church?

Answer 21

the Nazis were the main opposition to the Communists, who themselves were extremely anti-clerical and denounced the idea of religion and God

the Church did not want any bloody consequences for any kind of opposition