The Myth of the Twentieth Century
At first, Thieme, looking to protect his family, considered joining "Der Stahlhelm", so that he would avoid political persecution. However, his wife forbade this. By July 1933, while visiting Berlin, Thieme heard first hand accounts of the Köpenick's week of bloodshed; violence carried out by the "Sturmabteilung" (SA), where at least 21 people, including Thieme's fellow Social Democrats, were killed (many more were tortured). From this point on, he went into open opposition to the National Socialist regime. By this time, many of the Protestant "Landeskirche" were bending to the Hitler government and adopting the "Aryan paragraph"; much to the dismay of Thieme (converts of Jewish descent were banned from holding positions within these Protestant churches). Controlling and arbitarily changing the doctrines of the Catholic Church would prove more difficult for any political regime; this attracted Thieme and some German Protestants to it at the time (while not holding Jews in high regard, the Catholic Church did not exclude on the basis of racial origin, converts from taking part in the life of the Church). Thieme entered the Catholic Church on January 30, 1934 and around forty Protestant pastors from the "Thieme circle" followed. German officials lodged a complaint to Rome about the Thieme circle and Alfred Rosenberg, the leading NSDAP ideologue and author of "The Myth of the Twentieth Century", condemed Thieme for his "treasonous pilgrimage to Rome."