Rachel Evans
The Nazi regime persecuted the Catholic Church in Germany and the annexed territories, confiscating property, closing organisations, and sending priests to concentration camps. Dachau was the centre for the imprisonment of clergymen, with 1,034 Catholic priests dying there. Many thousands of Catholic men, women, and children died in concentration camps, Gestapo torture chambers, or in towns and villages across Europe. The Nazis' persecution of the Church was particularly severe in annexed territories, where they aimed to dismantle it by arresting its leaders, closing churches, and confiscating properties.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of Catholics who died in concentration camps | Thousands, including many priests and nuns |
| Catholic priests who died at Dachau | 1,034 |
| Total number of clerics imprisoned at Dachau | 2,720 |
| Percentage of clerics imprisoned at Dachau who were Roman Catholics | 94.88% |
| Number of Polish priests sent to concentration camps | 3,000 |
| Number of Polish priests who died in concentration camps | 1,992 |
| Number of Polish priests who died at Dachau | 787 |
| Number of priests who died at Sachsenhausen | 300 |
| Number of priests who died at Mauthausen | 780 |
| Number of priests who died at Buchenwald | 5,000 |
| Number of Poles of Catholic denomination mentioned in the Death Books | 32,000 |
| Percentage of non-Jewish prisoners in the Death Books who were Catholic | 80.4% |
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What You'll Learn
Thousands of Catholics died in concentration camps
The Nazi regime persecuted the Catholic Church, confiscating property, closing Catholic organisations, and sending priests to concentration camps. Dachau was the centre for the imprisonment of clergymen, with 2,579 of the 2,720 clerics recorded there being Roman Catholics. Of these, 1,034 Catholic priests died. Many Catholic laypeople also died in concentration camps, SS and Gestapo torture chambers, or in fields and villages across Europe.
In the annexed regions of Poland, Nazi officials closed churches, seminaries, convents, and monasteries, and the majority of priests were arrested or executed. Between 1939 and 1945, over 3,000 members of the Polish clergy were killed, with 1,992 of these deaths occurring in concentration camps. An estimated 3,000 other Polish priests were sent to concentration camps, including Auschwitz.
The Death Books of Auschwitz mention almost 40,000 people of non-Jewish denominations, of whom 80.4% were Catholic. This number would be higher if it included the deportations from Warsaw during the Uprising. The Death Books also omit the first seven months of 1940 and the first half of 1941, when the prisoners were almost exclusively Polish.
Priests from across Europe were sent to death and labour camps, with 300 dying at Sachsenhausen, 780 at Mauthausen, and 5,000 at Buchenwald. Several thousand nuns were also sent to camps or killed en route. Many Catholic priests and nuns were among those killed by the Nazis.
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Many Catholic priests were sent to concentration camps
The Dachau concentration camp, established in 1933, became the centre for the imprisonment of clergymen who had opposed the Nazi regime. From December 1940, Berlin ordered the transfer of clerical prisoners held at other camps to Dachau. Of a total of 2,720 clerics recorded as imprisoned at Dachau, 2,579 (or 94.88%) were Roman Catholics. 1,034 Catholic priests died there. The remaining 1,545 priests were liberated by the allies on April 29, 1945.
Among the Catholic clergy who died at Dachau were many of the 108 Polish Martyrs of World War II. Blessed Gerhard Hirschfelder died of hunger and illness in 1942. Saint Titus Brandsma, a Dutch Carmelite, died of a lethal injection in 1942. Blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg died during transport to Dachau in 1943. Blessed Alojs Andritzki, a German priest, was given a lethal injection in 1943. Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, a Czech priest, died of typhoid in 1945. Blessed Giuseppe Girotti died at the camp in April 1945. Blessed Otto Neururer, a parish priest, was sent to Dachau for "slander to the detriment of German marriage" after advising a girl against marrying the friend of a senior Nazi. He was executed at Buchenwald in 1940 for conducting a baptism there. He was the first priest killed in the concentration camps.
The persecution of the Catholic Church was at its most severe in the territories annexed to Greater Germany. In Hitler's scheme for the Germanization of Eastern Europe, there would be no place for the Christian Churches. In annexed Slovenia, for example, the Nazis persecuted the Church in a manner akin to that which occurred in Poland. Within six weeks of the Nazi occupation, only 100 of the 831 priests in the Diocese of Maribor and part of the Diocese of Ljubljana remained free. Clergy were persecuted and sent to concentration camps, religious Orders had their properties seized, and some youth were sterilized.
The Nazis claimed jurisdiction over all collective and social activity. Clergy were watched closely and frequently denounced, arrested, and sent to 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.
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Dachau was the centre for imprisonment of clergymen
The Dachau Concentration Camp was established in March 1933 as the first Nazi concentration camp. It was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, including communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. However, over time, the camp's purpose expanded to include forced labour and the imprisonment of various other groups deemed undesirable by the Nazi regime, such as Jews, Romani, and homosexual men.
Dachau became known as the centre for the imprisonment of clergymen, particularly those who had opposed the Nazi regime. In December 1940, Berlin ordered the transfer of clerical prisoners held at other camps to Dachau. Of the 2,720 clerics recorded as imprisoned at Dachau, 2,579 (or 94.88%) were Roman Catholics. This included 1,034 Catholic priests who died during their imprisonment.
The first clergyman to be imprisoned at Dachau was Wilhelm Braun, a Catholic priest or theologian from Frankfurt an der Oder or Munich, who arrived at the camp in 1935. Initially, clerical prisoners were placed in punishment blocks upon their arrival, but this changed after Berlin's order to transfer all clerical prisoners to Dachau. The camp became a gathering place for thousands of clergymen of all ranks, including high-profile inmates such as Dr. Johannes Neuhäusler, a Catholic auxiliary bishop from Munich, and Reverend Martin Niemöller, a Protestant pastor.
Life at Dachau was harsh for all prisoners, including clergymen. Priests were watched closely and frequently denounced, with some being arrested simply on the basis of "suspected activities hostile to the state". The conditions were brutal, and many priests died due to starvation, illness, or lethal injections. Dachau was not an extermination camp, but of the approximately 160,000 prisoners sent to the main camp, over 32,000 died, either by execution or disease, malnutrition, or brutalization.
The exact number of Catholics who died in concentration camps is difficult to determine, as many were unregistered or not entered in camp files. However, it is estimated that thousands of Catholics perished in camps like Auschwitz and Dachau. The persecution of the Catholic Church and its clergy by the Nazi regime resulted in the imprisonment and death of many religious leaders who opposed Hitler's ideology and policies.
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Catholics were persecuted for their anti-Nazi stance
The Catholic Church suffered persecution in Nazi Germany. The Nazis claimed jurisdiction over all collective and social activity, and kept a close watch on the clergy. Clergy were frequently denounced, arrested, and sent to concentration camps. Catholic schools, press, trade unions, political parties, and youth leagues were eradicated. Monasteries and convents were targeted for expropriation. Catholic welfare institutions were interfered with or transferred to state control. Anti-Catholic propaganda and "morality" trials were staged, and prominent Catholic lay leaders were murdered. In total, thousands of Catholic activists were arrested.
An estimated one-third of German priests faced some form of reprisal in Nazi Germany. This included imprisonment in concentration camps. Dachau Concentration Camp had a dedicated Priest Barracks, where 400 German priests were sent. Of the 2,720 clergy imprisoned at Dachau, 2,579 (or 94.88%) were Catholic. 1,034 Catholic priests died there. Among the Catholic clergy who died at Dachau were many of the 108 Polish Martyrs of World War II.
The Nazis' persecution of the Catholic Church was driven by their desire to de-Christianise Germany and substitute a "purely racial religion". Hitler was contemptuous of the Church's central teachings, believing that "science would destroy the last vestiges of superstition" and that "Nazism and religion could not co-exist in the long run". He also believed that Nazism could only succeed if political Catholicism and its democratic networks were eliminated. Hitler's inner circle, including Joseph Goebbels and Wilhelm Frick, shared his anti-clerical sentiments and encouraged the persecution of the Church.
Anti-Nazi sentiment grew in Catholic circles as the Nazi government increased its repressive measures. Catholic leaders were initially more suspicious of National Socialism than their Protestant counterparts, due to the rabid anti-Catholicism of leading Nazis such as Alfred Rosenberg. Catholic resistance to the Nazis included the distribution of thousands of copies of the 1937 papal encyclical Mit brennender Sorge ("With burning concern") to German parishes. This document was the "first official public document to criticize Nazism" and was one of the "greatest such condemnations ever issued by the Vatican". In response to the encyclical, the Nazis intensified their persecution of Catholics and the Church.
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Catholics were killed in SS and Gestapo torture chambers
The Nazi regime's persecution of the Catholic Church was ruthless and widespread. Catholics were arrested, tortured, and killed for speaking out against the regime, aiding Jews, or simply refusing to remove religious symbols from schools. The SS and Gestapo played a central role in this persecution, operating torture chambers and sending thousands of Catholics to their deaths in concentration camps.
The SS, or Schutzstaffel, was a paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler's command. It was responsible for carrying out the Nazi regime's policies of oppression and extermination. The Gestapo, or Geheime Staatspolizei, was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Together, these organizations targeted Catholics, including clergy members, who opposed the Nazi regime.
Catholics who were arrested by the Gestapo faced brutal treatment in SS and Gestapo torture chambers. Many were subjected to inhumane conditions, starvation, and disease, leading to death. Others were executed or given lethal injections. The exact number of Catholics who perished in these torture chambers is unknown, but it is estimated that thousands died.
One of the most notorious examples of Catholic persecution by the SS and Gestapo was the treatment of priests. Priests were often housed in special "priest blocks" within concentration camps and subjected to particularly harsh treatment by SS guards. It is estimated that 1,034 Catholic priests died at Dachau alone. Hundreds more priests perished at other camps, including Sachsenhausen, Mauthausen, and Buchenwald.
In addition to priests, thousands of Catholic laypeople, nuns, and activists were also targeted by the SS and Gestapo. They faced arrest, imprisonment, and execution for their faith and resistance to the Nazi regime. The persecution was not limited to concentration camps, but also occurred in fields and villages across Europe, as Catholics were killed for proclaiming their faith and speaking out against Nazi atrocities.
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Frequently asked questions
It is estimated that thousands of Catholics were sent to concentration camps during the Holocaust.
It is estimated that 1,034 Catholic priests died at Dachau. 787 died at Auschwitz, 300 at Sachsenhausen, 780 at Mauthausen, and 5,000 at Buchenwald. In total, nearly 1,992 Catholic priests died in concentration camps.
Yes, several thousand nuns were sent to concentration camps, and many were killed en route.
