Rachel Evans
The persecution of the Catholic Church by the Nazi regime in Germany is well-documented. Hitler's personal views on Catholicism and Christianity were hostile, and he considered the Church a pernicious opponent. The Nazis' long-term plan was to de-Christianize Germany, and they desired the subordination of the church to the state. Hitler moved quickly to eliminate Political Catholicism, arresting thousands of members of the German Centre Party and the Catholic Bavarian People's Party. Catholic priests and leaders were sent to concentration camps, and many did not survive. The Vatican, surrounded by Fascist Italy, was officially neutral during the war, but it used diplomacy to aid victims and lobbied for peace.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Hitler's personal position on Catholicism | Hostility |
| Nazi policy towards the Church | Dismantling the Church, arresting its leaders, exiling its clergymen, closing churches, monasteries and convents |
| Catholic leaders' stance on Nazi doctrine | Denounced it before 1933 |
| Catholic regions' stance on Nazism | Did not vote Nazi |
| Catholic Church's stance on Hitler | Supported his regime, did not take up an attitude of open opposition |
| Nazi persecution of the Church | Closing seminaries, criminalizing religious education, arresting thousands of Catholic Center Party supporters, closing churches, removing crucifixes in schools, restricting Catholic welfare programs, closing Church kindergartens, replacing Catholic schools with "Community schools", staging immorality trials of the Catholic clergy, arresting thousands of Catholic priests, nuns and lay leaders on trumped-up charges |
| Nazi intention | To destroy Christianity and substitute the old paganism of the early tribal Germanic gods and the new paganism of the Nazi extremists |
| Catholic Church's stance on Nazism | The Catholic Church had as many victims in the struggle against Nazism as any other group |
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What You'll Learn
Hitler's personal views on Catholicism
Hitler's public relationship to religion in Nazi Germany has been defined as one of opportunism. In his March 23, 1933, speech to the Reichstag, he described Christianity as the “foundation” for German values. Hitler, after all, promised confessional peace and declared that he regarded Christianity as the foundation of national morality. Hitler also appointed his friend Hans Kerrl as Minister for Church Affairs in 1935. A relative moderate among Nazis, Kerrl nonetheless confirmed Nazi hostility to the Catholic and Protestant creeds in a 1937 address during an intense phase of the Nazi Kirchenkampf. Hitler's invasion of predominantly-Catholic Poland in 1939 ignited the Second World War. In the Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, as in the annexed regions of Slovenia and Austria, Nazi persecution of the church was intense; many Polish clergy were targeted for extermination.
Hitler's anti-Semitism was too strident for official Catholic ears, and it was based on the wrong doctrinal premises. However, the idea of “excluding the Jews from the nation” was one that had been previously discussed not without sympathy in the Catholic press. Soon the bishops began actively to cooperate: the concordat concluded between Germany and the Holy See was a major achievement for Hitler. As Cardinal Faulhaber put it, “The Catholic Church, the greatest moral power on earth, had expressed its confidence in the new Germany at a time when the heads of the major nations faced it with cool reserve and considerable suspicion.” The German theologians went further and argued that Catholics were obliged to support the new regime not merely because it was the legal authority, but because it represented Germany itself. Catholic and liberal thinking (it was proclaimed) could never be reconciled, but Catholicism and Nazism could and should march hand in hand.
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Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church suffered persecution under the Nazi regime in Germany. The Nazis' ultimate goal was to de-Christianize Germany, and they desired the subordination of the church to the state. Their ideology could not accept an autonomous establishment whose legitimacy did not come from the government. Catholics were suspected of insufficient patriotism, disloyalty to the Fatherland, and serving the interests of "sinister alien forces".
Hitler's personal position on Catholicism and Christianity was one of hostility. He was raised as a Catholic but held contempt for its central teachings. Hitler moved quickly to eliminate Political Catholicism, arresting thousands of members of the German Centre Party. The Catholic Bavarian People's Party government was overthrown by a Nazi coup in March 1933, and the national Centre Party was dissolved in July. Hitler's 1934 Long Knives purge targeted political Catholicism, with the head of Catholic Action, Erich Klausener, and other Catholic leaders among those executed.
The Nazis took steps to suppress denominational and youth organizations, campaigned against denominational schools, and staged anti-Catholic propaganda and "morality" trials. Clergy were watched closely, denounced, and arrested, and Catholic welfare programs were restricted or transferred to state control. Monasteries and convents were targeted for expropriation, and many clergymen were murdered. Catholic schools, press, trade unions, political parties, and youth leagues were eradicated.
During the German occupation of Poland (1939-1945), the Nazis brutally suppressed the Catholic Church, particularly in German-occupied areas. Thousands of churches and monasteries were closed, seized, or destroyed, resulting in the permanent loss of many religious artworks and objects. Church leaders were specifically targeted as part of the Nazis' effort to destroy Polish culture and identity.
The invasion of predominantly Catholic Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939 ignited World War II. The Nazis categorized ethnic Poles, most of whom were Catholic, as an inferior race. Many Polish priests were sent to concentration camps, and thousands of members of the Polish clergy were murdered.
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Catholic support for Hitler
While Hitler's personal views on Catholicism and Christianity were hostile, the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Nazi regime was complex and multi-faceted.
Pre-1933
Before Hitler came to power, the Catholic Church in Germany was a significant political force, with one-third of the German population being Catholic. The Catholic Church publicly denounced Nazi doctrine, and Catholic regions generally did not vote Nazi. The German bishops supported the Bishop of Mainz's decision to excommunicate the Nazi leadership and ban Catholics from the Nazi Party in his diocese.
1933-1938
After Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, the Catholic Church's position shifted. The Centre Party, a Catholic political party, voted for the Enabling Act, which marked Hitler's transition to dictatorial power. The Catholic Bavarian People's Party government was overthrown by a Nazi coup in March 1933, and the party was dissolved in July 1933, leaving modern Germany without a Catholic Party for the first time.
In July 1933, the Reichskonkordat treaty was signed between Germany and the Holy See, pledging to respect Catholic autonomy and requiring clerics to stay out of politics. Hitler routinely violated this treaty in his struggle with the churches.
Some Catholic leaders and theologians actively cooperated with the Nazi regime, arguing that Catholics were obliged to support the new government as it represented Germany itself. Hitler's stance against “liberalism” and “godless Marxism” also aligned with the Church's views. The idea of “excluding the Jews from the nation” was discussed sympathetically in the Catholic press, and some bishops began to actively cooperate with the regime.
1938 onwards
Many Catholic leaders became disillusioned with the Nazi regime after 1938, but they continued to support Hitler's regime out of weakness or other factors. The Catholic Church had victims in the struggle against Nazism, with 122 Czechoslovak Catholic priests and 1700 Polish priests being sent to Dachau concentration camp.
While there were instances of Catholic support for Hitler, particularly in the early years of his regime, the Catholic Church's relationship with the Nazi regime was complex and multifaceted, with elements of both collaboration and resistance. The Church's failure to take a stronger stand against the atrocities of the Holocaust remains a subject of historical debate and ongoing research.
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Catholic opposition to Nazism
The Catholic Church was a major source of Christian opposition to Nazism in Germany before and during World War II. The Church's leaders attacked Nazi ideology during the 1920s and 1930s, and German bishops warned Catholics against Nazi racism before Hitler's rise, with some dioceses forbidding Nazi Party membership. The Catholic press also condemned Nazism.
However, the Catholic Church's opposition to Nazism weakened after the 1933 Reichskoncordat, which prohibited clergy from political participation. The Church's hierarchy instructed priests to combat National Socialism at a local level whenever it attacked Christianity, and some religious leaders made public criticisms of the Nazis. Nevertheless, neither Catholicism nor Protestantism was willing to openly oppose the Nazi state.
Hitler's personal position on Catholicism and Christianity was one of hostility. He held Catholicism and Christianity in contempt, seeing them as a rebellion against the natural law of selection and the survival of the fittest. He also believed that in the long run, National Socialism and religion would not be able to coexist. Hitler's chosen "deputy", Martin Bormann, an atheist, recorded in Hitler's Table Talk that Nazism was secular, scientific, and anti-religious in outlook. Hitler frequently employed the language of "Providence" in defence of his own myth, but ultimately held a "materialist outlook", believing that the progress of science would destroy all myths and had already disproved Christian doctrine.
Hitler moved quickly to eliminate Political Catholicism, arresting thousands of members of the German Centre Party. The dissolution of the Catholic Bavarian People's Party government in 1933 left modern Germany without a Catholic Party for the first time. Hitler also allowed pressure to be placed on German parents to remove children from religious classes to receive ideological instruction instead. Church kindergartens were closed, crucifixes were removed from schools, and Catholic welfare programs were restricted on the basis that they assisted the "racially unfit".
The Nazis' long-term plan was to de-Christianize Germany after the final victory in the war. 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. Catholics were suspected of insufficient patriotism, disloyalty to the Fatherland, or serving the interests of "sinister alien forces". 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.
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Catholic priests in concentration camps
Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime persecuted the Catholic Church in Germany. The Nazis' long-term plan was to de-Christianize Germany, and their ideology could not accept an autonomous establishment whose legitimacy did not come from the government. They desired the subordination of the church to the state. Hitler's personal position on Catholicism and Christianity was one of hostility. He had a "blatant disregard" for the Concordat, an agreement between Germany and the Holy See that prohibited clergy from participating in politics.
The Nazis targeted clergy, nuns, and lay leaders, often on trumped-up charges of currency smuggling or "immorality". Priests were watched closely and frequently denounced, arrested, and sent to concentration camps. From 1940, a dedicated Clergy Barracks was established at Dachau concentration camp, which became the centre for the imprisonment of clergymen. Of a total of 2,720 clerics recorded as imprisoned at Dachau, 2,579 (or 94.88%) were Roman Catholics. Among the priest-martyrs who died at Dachau were many of the 108 Polish Martyrs of World War II. Dachau was established in March 1933 as the first Nazi concentration camp, and it was chiefly a political camp rather than an extermination camp. However, of the 160,000 prisoners sent to its main camp, over 32,000 were either executed or died of disease, malnutrition, or brutalization.
The first churchman to be imprisoned at Dachau was Wilhelm Braun, a Catholic priest from Frankfurt an der Oder, who arrived in 1935. The annexation of Austria saw an increase in clerical inmates. Before 1940, clerical prisoners were placed in punishment blocks 15 and 17 upon arrival, where they would remain for some time before being distributed among the other blocks. In 1940, the German bishops and the Pope persuaded Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler to concentrate all the priests imprisoned in the various concentration camps into one camp, where they could be housed together in separate blocks with a chapel to celebrate Mass.
The persecution of Catholic priests extended beyond Dachau. In 1937, the New York Times reported that Christmas would see "several thousand Catholic clergymen in prison." Monasteries and convents were targeted for expropriation, and prominent Catholic lay leaders were murdered. Thousands of Catholic activists were arrested, and an estimated one-third of German priests faced some form of reprisal in Nazi Germany. Catholic schools, press, trade unions, political parties, and youth leagues were eradicated. Anti-Catholic propaganda and "morality" trials were staged, and welfare institutions were interfered with or transferred to state control.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Hitler persecuted Catholics. He ordered the wholesale dismissal of Catholic civil servants, and thousands of members of the Catholic Centre Party were incarcerated in concentration camps. Catholic schools were closed, crucifixes were removed from schools, and Catholic welfare programs were restricted. The Nazis also gathered dissident priests at Dachau concentration camp, where many died.
Hitler signed a concordat with the Vatican in 1933. The agreement prohibited clergy from participating in politics, and in turn, the state guaranteed the right to free worship, to circulate pastoral epistles, and to maintain Catholic schools and property.
Hitler gained some support from Catholics as a bulwark against Communism. Some Catholic leaders welcomed Hitler's call to "overcome the un-Germanic spirit" and felt that atheistic communism was a greater threat to the Catholic Church than the Nazis. However, many German Catholics were initially suspicious of Nazism, seeing its ideas as anti-Christian.
