Evening star., 1951-01-07

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that Nazi plans. like those of the
Communists, called for a complete
de- -Christianization of Germany.
In their preparation for The
conquest which they planned, the
Nazis neglected no detail. On
the important philosophical front
that sector which deals with
the mind of n,an-they were
especially diligent. According to
their plan, the ideology of Judah,
which was regarded as "alien to
the Teutonic soul and the ideal
of the Ayran hero" was to be
driven from the Third Reich.
And since Christianity, from their
viewpoint, was a form of Judah.
it, too, was to be driven out of
Germany.
Seized Churches
To achieve this objective, the
Nazi plans called for ID exter-
mination of the Jew, who was but
small minority; co throttling
of the Catholic. who was Inter
nationally bound" by a concordat
with the Vatican which would
make his church politically impo-
tent, and 80 capturing of the
great Evangelical churches which,
after being "purged of all Jewish
characteristics" and forced to-
sever all connections with "the
internationaliSm of world r. otes-
tantism," were to be forced to
recognize the primacy of the
state. conjured into the ranks
of Naziism, and assigned the
task of preaching the doctrine
of the National-Socialist Weltan-
schauung. or outlook on life-a
new religion of blood and soil.
Despite solemn promise on
the part of Hitler that Germany
under him would remain a West
ern Christian state, the Nazis,
through a group organized in the
Evangelical church and calling
themselves German Christians,
almost Immediately moved in and
seized the Evangelical churches
and proceeded to subjugate them
to the .Nazi power. BY July, 1888, |
these churches were in the hands
of the NaZis who had risen to po-
litical power only four months
earlier.
Since both the Jew and the
Catholic have strong ties outside
Germany, the story of their per-
secution by the Nazis received1
considerable international pub
licity. But since German protes-
tantism was profoundly national
istic, the story of the capture of
the Protestant churches and the
destruction of them by the Nazis
as truly Christian churches did
not receive wide notice outside
Germany. Moreover. even when
these facts were publicized, very
little was said about the part
played by the German churches
in the education of youth in the
pre-Nazi period. |
De. .Christianizing Started
To the German in the pre-
Weimar constitution period, al
tar and throne" were inseparably
one-a part of the whole life
of the community, not each in
its sphere, but both together.
The right of the sovereign to
prescribe the religion of the COM
munity, a right which evolved
out of the religious wars of the
Reformation period, was unques-
toned. During the period of the
monarchy, the Cody Prince" ,oc..
cupied for the German Protestant
the same position which the
Holy Father" occupies for the
Catholic everywhere. The Prot
estant church under the headship
of the Cody Prince" was re-
sponsible for the Christian moral
education of the German youth.
This had been a part of the
German system since the 18th
century. And because it may
be generally said that what
the masses believe is a matter of
instruction rather than investi-
cation, this was an important
function OF the church.
The religious and moral edu-
cation of youth prior to the Wei
mar constitution was under the
supervision of the clergy, that of
the Protestant was under the su-
pervision of the Protestant clergy,
that of the Catholic was under
the direction of the Catholic
clergy and that of the Jewish
children was taken care of by the
Jewish rabbis All religious bodies,
including the Jewish religious
communities were supported by
a tax which was added to the
general tax and collected by the
state and distributed among the
various RELIGIOUS groups on basis
of membe ship.
In 1919, following the defeat
of Germany in World War I, the
German monarchy was destroyed.
The Weimar constitution, adopted
to succeed the monarchy, at
tempted to separate church and
state by declaring that there is
no state church" This left the
Evangelical churches without an
anchor, while at the same time
the names of the former lords of
the church," the various princes
of the % principalities that had
made up the German empire,
were dragged in the mire. So
when the Nazis came to power in
1888, the Christian churches in
Germany welcomed the prospect
of a new authority which they
were given every reason to believe
would restore the dignity and in
fluence they had enjoyed under
the monarchy.
But alas, the church, along