nazi policies for the church and religious denominations

• what ministry was set up in 1935 regarding the church

  ministry of church affairs 1935

  hitler set this up in an attempt to weaken the hold the catholic and protestant churches had on people
• what movement was created regarding the german faith

  german faith movement

  encouraged by nazis to try replace christian values and ceremonies with pagan ones
• nazi reasons for ideas regarding religion

  to stop religious ideology of protestantism and catholicism influencing german people + undermining nazi indocrination

  create unity of beliefs and values (decreasing loyalty of the pope and increasing loyalty to hitler/nazi party)

  enhance popularity of nazism amongst the wider german public/scoiety
• tension with catholic church

  many catholics supported hitler due to his opposition to communism

  hitler saw catholic church as a threat to his nazi state

  catholics owed first allegiance to pope not hitler

  divided loyalties

  hitler said : either german or catholic not both
• what did hitler sign in july 1933 regarding the church

  concordat with pope pius xi

  catholic church would stay out of politics if hitler agreed not to interfere with the church
• how did hitler break the concordat

  priests were harassed and arrested and most ended up in concentration camp for criticising nazis

  catholic schools = disrupted and abolished

  catholic youth movements shut down

  monasteries closed
• nazi reasons for tensions with catholic church

  divided loyalties

  consistently supported the zp (hitler intended to remove this party)

  after 1933 - nazis censored catholic press and harassed priests

  cross and crucifix removed from catholic schools
• what did the pope do in 1937

  issued an encyclical (mit brennender sorge // with burning anxiety) to catholic german priests attacking the nazi system without naming nazis or hitler

  priests read this in congregations to show resistance to nazi control of the church

  caused nazis to close catholic groups and prevent them from joining the nsdap
• protestants and nazis

  some protestants admired hitler

  reich church = newly established in hopes to combine all protestants under one church

  leader = ludwig muller (member of nsdap + reich bishop in sept. 1933)

  'must show loyalty to the fuhrer who has saved us from communism and given us a better future'
• protestants who opposed nazis

  believed nazism opposed their own christian beliefs

  led by pastor martin niemoller

  dec 1933 - pastors' emergency league : anyone who opposed hitler

  agnes von grone spoke out against nazi ideas on religion

  led the protestant women's bureau (disbanded in 1936)
• why di the protestants' emergency league fail

  many left after being prosecuted nazis

  niemoller preached to obey god not man

  arrested in 1937

  put in prison + concentration camps until 1945