The Myth of the Twentieth Century
The Bishop of Münster, Clemens August Graf von Galen was Preysing's cousin. In response to Nazi Ideologist Alfred Rosenberg"The Myth of the Twentieth Century", Galen derided the neo-pagan theories of Rosenberg as perhaps no more than "an occasion for laughter in the educated world", but warned that "his immense importance lies in the acceptance of his basic notions as the authentic philosophy of National Socialism and in his almost unlimited power in the field of German education. Herr Rosenberg must be taken seriously if the German situation is to be understood." Often Galen directly protested to Hitler over violations of the Concordat. When in 1936, Nazis removed crucifixes in schools, protest by Galen led to public demonstration. Like Presying, he assisted with the drafting of the 1937 papal encyclical. He denounced the lawlessness of the Gestapo, the confiscations of church properties and the cruel program of Nazi euthanasia. He attacked the Gestapo for seizing church properties and converting them to their own purposes - including use as cinemas and brothels. His three powerful sermons of July and August 1941 earned him the nickname of the "Lion of Munster". Documents suggest the Nazis intended to hang Galen at the end of the war. The Nazi press called him "enemy number one", Hitler called him a "liar and a traitor", and Göring said he was a "saboteur and agitator" and those who published the text of his sermons were attached - but the regime did not have him arrested.