through what did the nazis try to exert pressure on christians
the reich church and the concordat agreement with pope pius xi by closingreligiousschools
what was the pel (pastors' emergency league)
some protestants like martin niemoller (o with 2 dots), set up the pel which resisted joining the reich church and continued allowing jews to become christians and to preach the old testament
what was the confessing church
the pel set up this protestant church to oppose to the reich church, around 6000pastors joined it which defied the nazis in secret or openly, as a result of this 800 were sent to concentrationcamps
what was the catholic opposition
despite the concordat agreement, promising not to interfere in politics, some priests condemned the nazis and around 400 were imprisoned
was the church oppositioneffective
niemoller was a WWIveteran who believed in a stronggov and he welcomed hitler's seizure of power at first
he didn't resist the actions the nazis took against jewish people
he offered to fight in WWII when he realised he was in danger
when he joined the pel, he questionednazi ideas and was put under gestapo surveillance and arrested several times
he realised that hitler was a dictator who needed to be stopped
he was sent to concentration camps and freed in 1945
most church opposition was against nazirestrictions on the church not resistance to nazi crimes against humanity
