page_title: Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Germany
section_title: Annexed regions
hierarchical_section_title: Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Germany / Annexed regions
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Odilo Globotschnigg [Globocnik] Gauleiter v. Wien
context_page_description: The Roman Catholic Church suffered persecution in Nazi Germany. The Nazis claimed jurisdiction over all collective and social activity and the party leadership hoped to dechristianize Germany in the long term. Clergy were watched closely, and frequently denounced, arrested and sent to Nazi 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 and 400 German priests were sent to the dedicated Priest Barracks of Dachau Concentration Camp. Persecution of the Church in Germany was at its most severe in the annexed Polish regions. Here the Nazis set about systematically dismantling the Church and most priests were murdered, deported or forced to flee. Of the 2,720 clergy imprisoned at Dachau from Germany and occupied territories, 2,579 were Catholic.
caption: The Nazi Gauleiter of Vienna, Odilo Globocnik. who launched a crusade against the Church
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