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| 49. day of birth of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) :*Graphics by R. Klein :*Ausgabepreis: 12+38 Pfennig :*First Day of Issue / Erstausgabetag: 13. April 1938 :*Michel-Katalog-Nr: 664 (Deutsches Reich) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany was one of the most heinous in all
history. However, when it first came to power, it was welcomed by many
German church members. One church leader even said that Hitler's rise
was a gift of mercy from God's hand. We can understand his thinking only
if we remember that it was still early in Hitler's rule and that many
Germans were afraid the Communists would take over their country if not
opposed by the Nazis.
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The so-called "German Christians" elected Ludwig
Müller, a fervent Nazi, to head it. In July, he placed two
restrictions on the clergy. A clergyman (1) must be politically reliable
and (2) must accept the superiority of the Aryan race. Hundreds of
clergy accepted these demands.
A small group of church leaders did not. They openly opposed those
German Christians who did accept the government's terms. The dissidents
insisted that the church must obey Christ apart from political
influence. In September, 1933, Martin Niemoeller sent a letter to all
German pastors, inviting them to join a Pastor's Emergency League to
oppose the unified church. Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were among
those who joined him. In October, Niemoeller asked pastors to bind
themselves by the scripture and the old confessions of faith. They
pledged themselves to protest certain violations of the faith, to stand
with the persecuted, and to acknowledge that Aryanism (with its claim of
racial superiority) was a violation of Reformation and Christian
teaching.
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