Agreements with the Churches.
When Hitler came to power in 1933 he chose not to inflame a conflict with the churches until he was sure he could win. In a speech to the Reichstag in March of 1933, Hitler said that Christianity was ‘the unshakeable foundation of the moral life of our people’.
Then 3 months later in June, the Catholic Church signed an understanding with Hitler. Hitler promised that the Catholics could carry on their religious work, and that Catholic schools and youth groups would be left alone. The Pope then promised the Vatican would stay out of politics. Catholic Bürger said: ‘the aims of the Nazi government have long been the same as those of the Catholic Church.
Hitler united all the Protestant churches together into one Reich church under a pro-Nazi Reich Bishop, Müller. They became known as the German Christians. They adopted Nazi-style uniforms, salutes and marches. Their slogan was ‘The swastika on our breasts and the cross in our hearts’.
The Faith Movement.
The German Faith Movement was the Nazis’ alternative to Christianity. It involved pagan-style worship of nature centred on the sun. The movement’s flag was a golden sun on a blue background, often with a Nazi swastika attached.
Did the Churches oppose the Nazis?
Many Christians did side with the Nazis; however a small minority chose to not do so. One man was Paul Schneider, a pastor in a small town; he criticised the Nazis and in 1934 he was arrested and warned not to make speeches hostile to the Nazis. He ignored this warning. In 1937 he was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp where he smuggled out letters warning that the Church must not compromise with the Nazis. Schneider refused to take his cap off when the Nazi swastika flag was raised and so he was stretched on a rack and whipped. Despite being put through unimaginable pain, he still refused sign a promise not to preach. Schneider was kept in the concentration camp for 2 years and was very consistent with being loyal to the Church.
Catholic Cardinal Galen also opposed the Nazis; he publically attacked the Nazi policies as early as 1934. In 1941 he revealed that the Nazis were secretly killing mentally and physically handicapped people. Galen led a campaign which made Hitler call a halt to this euthanasia programme.
The Nazi Party did not want to make Galen into a martyr so they took no action against him, but three Catholic priests were executed for issuing copies of Galen’s sermons to soldiers. Some Nazis urged Goebbels to hang Galen, but Goebbels pointed out: ‘If anything were done against the bishop, the population of Münster could be regarded as lost to the war effort, and the same could be said of Westphalia.
Conclusion.
In conclusion the Nazis only succeeded in controlling some of the churches in Germany as a lot of Protestant churches united to form one Reich church under a pro-Nazi Reich Bishop. They later became known as the German Christians, and also took on many Nazi ways e.g. uniforms, and not many people opposed this idea. The Catholic Churches also made an understanding with Hitler which showed they were willing to join together and accept each other’s teachings and promote the same things, as they had pretty much done anyway.
However, some people still did oppose the Nazis and were reluctant to let them control the churches; if not, their own minds. A small minority chose not to side with the Nazis and they did this through refusing to agree to things Nazis told them to do; they were very determined to not give in- Paul Schneider is a great example of this determination and courage.
To sum up, the Nazis did manage to take control of some churches and come together with organisations which were seen as threats too i.e. the Catholic Church. Conversely, the Nazis failed to win over everyone and make them all worship Hitler as the leader of Germany. A small amount of people still stood against the Nazi Party though and it was very hard for the Nazis to make them change their mind. So in conclusion, no- the Nazis failed to control all the churches in Germany.
