Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Germany

The Roman Catholic Church suffered persecution in Nazi Germany. The Nazis claimed jurisdiction over all collective and social activity. Clergy were watched closely, and frequently denounced, arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps. Welfare institutions were interfered with or transferred to state control. Catholic schools, press, trade unions, political parties and youth leagues were eradicated. Anti-Catholic propaganda and "morality" trials were staged. Monasteries and convents were targeted for expropriation. Prominent Catholic lay leaders were murdered, and thousands of Catholic activists were arrested.

In all, an estimated one third of German priests faced some form of reprisal in Nazi Germany and 400 German priests were sent to the dedicated Priest Barracks of Dachau Concentration Camp. Of the 2,720 clergy imprisoned at Dachau from Germany and occupied territories, 2,579 (or 94.88%) were Catholic.

Background The Nazis' long term plan was to de-Christianize Germany after final victory in the war.* Alan Bullock; Hitler: A Study in Tyranny; HarperPerennial Edition 1991; p 219: "Once the war was over, [Hitler] promised himself, he would root out and destroy the influence of the Christian Churches, but until then he would be circumspect" Michael Phayer; The Response of the German Catholic Church to National Socialism, published by Yad Vashem: "By the latter part of the decade of the Thirties church officials were well aware that the ultimate aim of Hitler and other Nazis was the total elimination of Catholicism and of the Christian religion. Since the overwhelming majority of Germans were either Catholic or Protestant this goal had to be a long-term rather than a short-term Nazi objective." Shirer, William L., Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, p. 240, Simon and Schuster, 1990: "under the leadership of Rosenberg, Bormann and Himmler—backed by Hitler—the Nazi regime intended to destroy Christianity in Germany, if it could, and substitute the old paganism of the early tribal Germanic gods and the new paganism of the Nazi extremists." Gill, Anton (1994). An Honourable Defeat; A History of the German Resistance to Hitler. Heinemann Mandarin. 1995 paperback , pp. 14–15: "[the Nazis planned to] de-Christianise Germany after the final victory". Richard J. Evans; The Third Reich at War; Penguin Press; New York 2009, p. 547 Ian Kershaw; Hitler a Biography; 2008 Edn; WW Norton & Company; London p.661 Ian Kershaw; The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation; 4th Edn; Oxford University Press; New York; 2000"; pp. 173–74 Sharkey, Word for Word/The Case Against the Nazis; How Hitler's Forces Planned To Destroy German Christianity, New York Times, 13 January 2002 Griffin, Roger Fascism's relation to religion in Blamires, Cyprian, World fascism: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1, p. 10, ABC-CLIO, 2006: "There is no doubt that in the long run Nazi leaders such as Hitler and Himmler intended to eradicate Christianity just as ruthlessly as any other rival ideology, even if in the short term they had to be content to make compromises with it." Mosse, George Lachmann, Nazi culture: intellectual, cultural and social life in the Third Reich, p. 240, Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2003: "Had the Nazis won the war their ecclesiastical policies would have gone beyond those of the German Christians, to the utter destruction of both the Protestant and the Catholic Church." Fischel, Jack R., Historical Dictionary of the Holocaust, p. 123, Scarecrow Press, 2010: "The objective was to either destroy Christianity and restore the German gods of antiquity or to turn Jesus into an Aryan." Dill, Marshall, Germany: a modern history, p. 365, University of Michigan Press, 1970: "It seems no exaggeration to insist that the greatest challenge the Nazis had to face was their effort to eradicate Christianity in Germany or at least to subjugate it to their general world outlook." Wheaton, Eliot Barculo The Nazi revolution, 1933–1935: prelude to calamity:with a background survey of the Weimar era, p. 290, 363, Doubleday 1968: The Nazis sought "to eradicate Christianity in Germany root and branch." Bendersky, Joseph W., A concise history of Nazi Germany, p. 147, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007: "Consequently, it was Hitler's long range goal to eliminate the churches once he had consolidated control over his European empire."Bendersky, Joseph W., A concise history of Nazi Germany, p. 147, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007: "Consequently, it was Hitler's long range goal to eliminate the churches once he had consolidated control over his European empire." Their ideology could not accept an autonomous establishment, whose legitimacy did not spring from the government, and they desired the subordination of the church to the state.Theodore S. Hamerow; On the Road to the Wolf's Lair - German Resistance to Hitler; Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1997; ; p. 196 Catholics were suspected of insufficient patriotism, disloyalty to the Fatherland, or serving the interests of "sinister alien forces".Theodore S. Hamerow; On the Road to the Wolf's Lair - German Resistance to Hitler; Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1997; ; p. 74 Aggressive anti-Church radicals like Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann saw the conflict with the Churches as a priority concern, and anti-church sentiments were strong among grassroots party activists.Ian Kershaw; Hitler a Biography; 2008 Edn; W.W. Norton & Co; London; pp. 381–82 In the short term, Hitler was prepared to restrain his anti-clericalism, seeing danger in strengthening the Church by persecution.Alan Bullock; Hitler: a Study in Tyranny; HarperPerennial Edition 1991; p219"

In the 1920s and 1930s, Catholic leaders made a number of attacks on Nazi ideology and the main Christian opposition to Nazism had come from the Catholic Church.The German Churches in the Third Reich by Franklin F. Littell, published by Yad Vashem German bishops energetically denounced its "false doctrines".Joachim Fest; Plotting Hitler's Death: The German Resistance to Hitler 1933–1945; Weidenfeld & Nicolson; London; p.31 They warned Catholics against Nazi racism and some dioceses banned membership in the Nazi Party, while the Catholic press criticized the Nazi movement. In his history of the German Resistance, Hamerow wrote:Theodore S. Hamerow; On the Road to the Wolf's Lair - German Resistance to Hitler; Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1997; ; p. 132

Persecution in Germany Following the war, the American Office of Strategic Services collected evidence for the Nuremberg Trials on the nature and extent of the Nazi persecution of the churches. Different steps it noted included the campaign for the suppression of denominational and youth organisations, the campaign against denominational schools, and the defamation campaign against the clergy.Nazi trial documents made public, BBC, 11 January 2002 In a report entitled The Nazi Master Plan: The Persecution of the Christian Churches, the OSS said:

Hitler moved quickly to eliminate Political Catholicism. The Nazis arrested thousands of members of the German Centre Party. The Catholic Bavarian People's Party government had been overthrown by a Nazi coup on 9 March 1933. Two thousand functionaries of the Party were rounded up by police in late June, and it, along with the national Centre Party, was dissolved in early July. The dissolution left modern Germany without a Catholic Party for the first time. Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen meanwhile negotiated a Reich Concordat with the Vatican, which prohibited clergy from participating in politics.Ian Kershaw; Hitler a Biography; 2008 Edn; W.W. Norton & Co; London; p. 290 Ian Kershaw wrote that the Vatican was anxious to reach agreement with the new government, despite "continuing molestation of Catholic clergy, and other outrages committed by Nazi radicals against the Church and its organisations".Ian Kershaw; Hitler a Biography; 2008 Edn; W.W. Norton & Co; London; p. 295 Hitler, nevertheless, had a "blatant disregard" for the Concordat, wrote Paul O'Shea, and its signing was to him merely a first step in the "gradual suppression of the Catholic Church in Germany".Paul O'Shea; A Cross Too Heavy; Rosenberg Publishing; p. 234–5 Anton Gill wrote that "with his usual irresistible, bullying technique, Hitler then proceeded to take a mile where he had been given an inch" and closed all Catholic institutions whose functions were not strictly religious:Gill, Anton (1994). An Honourable Defeat; A History of the German Resistance to Hitler. Heinemann Mandarin. 1995 paperback , p.57

Almost immediately, the Nazis promulgated their sterilization law—the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring—an offensive policy in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Days later, moves began to dissolve the Catholic Youth League. Political Catholicism was also among the targets of Hitler's 1934 Long Knives purge: those executed included the head of Catholic Action, Erich Klausener; Papen's speech writer and advisor Edgar Jung (also a Catholic Action worker); and the national director of the Catholic Youth Sports Association, Adalbert Probst. Former Centre Party Chancellor Heinrich Brüning narrowly escaped execution.Peter Hoffmann; The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945; 3rd Edn (First English Edn); McDonald & Jane's; London; 1977; p 25John S. Conway; The Nazi Persecution of the Churches, 1933–1945; Regent College Publishing; 2001; (USA); p. 90–92Lewis, Brenda Ralph (2000); Hitler Youth: the Hitlerjugend in War and Peace 1933–1945; MBI Publishing; ; p. 45

William Shirer wrote that the German people were not greatly aroused by the persecution of the churches by the Nazi Government. The great majority were not moved to face imprisonment for the sake of freedom of worship, being too impressed by Hitler's early successes. Few, he said, paused to reflect that the Nazi regime intended to destroy Christianity and substitute the old paganism of the early tribal Germanic gods and the new paganism of the Nazi extremists. Anti-Nazi sentiment grew in Catholic circles as the Nazi government increased its repressive measures. Hoffmann writes that, from the beginning:Peter Hoffmann; The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945; 3rd Edn (First English Edn); McDonald & Jane's; London; 1977; p.14

Himmler and the SS Under Himmler's deputy, Reinhard Heydrich, the Security Police and SD were responsible for suppressing enemies of the Nazi state, including "political churches"—such as Lutheran and Catholic clergy who opposed the Hitler regime. Such dissidents were arrested and sent to concentration camps.United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Reihard Heydrich; web 23 May 2013 According to Himmler biographer Peter Longerich, Himmler was vehemently opposed to Christian sexual morality and the "principle of Christian mercy", both of which he saw as a dangerous obstacle to his planned battle with "subhumans".Peter Longerich; Heinrich Himmler; Translated by Jeremy Noakes and Lesley Sharpe; Oxford University Press; 2012; p.265 In 1937 he wrote:Peter Longerich; Heinrich Himmler; Translated by Jeremy Noakes and Lesley Sharpe; Oxford University Press; 2012; p.270

Himmler saw the main task of his (SS) organisation to be that of "acting as the vanguard in overcoming Christianity and restoring a 'Germanic' way of living" in order to prepare for the coming conflict between "humans and subhumans": Longerich wrote that, while the Nazi movement as a whole launched itself against Jews and Communists, "by linking de-Christianisation with re-Germanization, Himmler had provided the SS with a goal and purpose all of its own." He set about making his SS the focus of a "cult of the Teutons".Peter Longerich; Heinrich Himmler; Translated by Jeremy Noakes and Lesley Sharpe; Oxford University Press; 2012; p.269

Targeting of clergy