How where the different sections of the Church affected by the Nazi’s to take over Germany?
The different sections of the Church affected by the Nazi’s take over were:
-
The Priests. Most of them were sent off to Concentration Camps
-
The Protestant Church’s. These (under Nazi pressure) elected Hitler as their ‘Reich Bishop’ and expelled non Aryan pastors. They wore Nazi Uniforms and their slogan was “The Swastika on our chests and the cross in our hearts”.
-
Prayers. The Nazi’s made up some new prayers, which children in Nazi orphanages would sing before eating.
-
The Pope. He was affected as he agreed to sign a agreement with Hitler, saying that the Nazi’s would not interfere with the Catholic Church and in return all the Bishops would take an oath of loyalty to Hitler. Of course, Hitler did not stick to this agreement, and the Pope protested, but Hitler ignored it.
Why is Martin Niemoller so significant?
Martin Niemoller is significant as he protested against the Reich Church (formerly the Protestant Church) and set up his own church, called the ‘Confessional Church’. More than 6, 000 pastors joined it, leaving only 2, 000 in the Reich Church. The Nazi’s figured out that this would challenge them, so they arrested more than 800 pastors and more were sent to Concentration Camps, including Niemoller.
How ‘Christian’ was the Reich Church?
The Nazi’s, and through that the Reich Church, believed in ‘Positive Christianity’, but they persecuted all kinds of Christians. The Nazi’s worshiped Hitler, or the Fuhrer, and their prayers said that the “Fuhrer, sent to me by god”, which means that Hitler himself believed that he was gods gift and sent down from god to protect and save the people. Also, it was ‘made’ in 1936, when Hitler was in charge and people had really believed this, before people had begun to have their doubts about him.
Do you think that Churches in Germany were weak because they did not stand up to the Nazi’s in relation to the Holocaust? Explain your answer.
No, I think that the Churches were neither weak nor strong as if they did stand up for themselves, the Nazi’s would have taken them by force, which could have led to hundreds of people being put in prison camps and later being killed, for heresy or something like that.
They had to back down fast; otherwise things could have turned out a lot worse. If Hitler had broken a promise/agreement with the pope, who is respected world widely, what could he do to people that barely anyone knew?
