Christianity and the nazis

• The Church in Germany

  A threat to the Nazi Party
• Principles of Christianity


  Opposed Nazi actions
• People

  More loyal to their God than their political leaders
• Christianity

  • Protestant
  • Catholic
• Protestants


  More likely to support the Nazi Party than Catholics for regional and historic reasons
• Hitler

  Wanted to try to supplant Christianity with a Nazi-based religion
• Churches


  A great propaganda tool to spread the Nazi's message
• In 1933, there were 40 million German Protestants and 20 million German Catholic people
• Reich Church


  Founded in 1933 to help to create a new Nazi Church
• Ludwig Müller


  Led the effort to create the Reich Church after being elected to the 'Reichsbischof'
• Changes under the Reich Church

  1. Stopped preaching from the Old Testament

  2. Banned church ministers not of pure Aryan descent
• The blurring of the lines between God and the State is shown by the Nazi phrase: 'The Swastika on our chests and the Cross in our hearts'
• Hitler


  Tried to influence sermons to convey his propaganda messages
• The Church


  Posed a serious threat to the Nazis because Christian values conflicted with Nazi beliefs
• Confessional Church


  • Founded in 1934 to oppose the Reich Church
  • Made up by 6,000 churches
  • Led by Martin Niemöller
• Catholic loyalty

  Split between Hitler and the Pope
• German Catholics


  Sent their children to Catholic youth organisations, challenging the authority of the Nazi Party Youth movement
• Concordat, 1933


  Hitler and the Pope signed an agreement that promised Catholics could worship and keep their schools in return for not intervening in Nazi politics
• Hitler betrayed the Concordat by closing down Catholic schools, banning Catholic youth groups and sending priests who opposed the Nazis to concentration camps
• Pope's statement, 1937

  'With burning anxiety' to voice his criticism of Hitler and his policies to the world
• There was little organised opposition from religious groups, not because everyone supported Hitler, but because most people were scared of the Nazi regime