Hitler’s Priests: Catholic Clergy and National Socialism (review)

In 1933 the majority of Germans enthusiastically welcomed Hitler’s takeover of power. Amongst the Catholic population, there was a small number of priests who had already demonstrated their support of the man who they believed would lead Germany into a new era of national greatness. Kevin Spicer has now provided a commendable account of the ideas and careers of 138 such men, whom he designates as “brown priests.” His diligent and perceptive research in both the ecclesiastical and government archives in Germany examines these men’s motives, describes their advocacy of Nazi ideas, and assesses the influence of their political activism.

Needless to say, Spicer, with all the advantages of hindsight, is highly critical of these priests, but also makes clear that, for the most part, so were their bishops at the time. Many were disciplined by their ecclesiastical superiors, not so much for their political zealotry, but for their failure to obtain the appropriate approval. Spicer gives numerous examples to show how these priests refused to give up their pro-Nazi political agitation, even when ordered to do so. He also draws attention to the difficulties such well-publicized activities caused to their bishops.

Most of these brown priests were convinced that their advocacy for the Nazi Party was fully compatible with their personal Catholic faith. They had little difficulty in backing the Nazis’ antisemitism and racism, making use of the Church’s traditional hostility toward Judaism and their own prejudices against the alleged malevolence of German Jewry.

It is notable that over a third of these priests had doctorates in philosophy or theology, which they used to advance their mixture of German Catholicism and National Socialism. The more prominent of these promoters of the Nazi cause, such as the former abbot Alban Schachleiter, have already appeared in earlier histories, but Spicer provides the fullest account in English of these individuals’ waywardness. For instance, Schachleiter made much of his personal acquaintance with Hitler, championed an extreme German nationalism that had led to his expulsion from his abbey in Prague in 1918, was frequently the main speaker at Nazi rallies, and used his contacts to evade his superiors’ restrictions. When he died in June 1937, Hitler ordered that he should be given a state funeral and sent his deputy, Rudolf Hess, to attend.

Equally notorious were those brown priests who believed that their Nazi sympathies had thwarted their careers in the Church and denied them their due recognition. Some even left the Church and became ideological crusaders against their former colleagues. Albert Hartl, for example, whom Spicer scarcely mentions, held a high position in Heinrich Himmler’s security intelligence service and in 1941 was busy preparing plans for eradicating church influence in Germany once victory was achieved.

Spicer also provides information about lesser-known figures, many of whom were sent to obscure rural parishes and eagerly supported the Nazi Party in their pastoral ministry and parish activities for many years. Particularly difficult to assess is the extent to which these men’s fervent attachment to Nazi ideas was affected by the Nazis’ own anti-Catholic extremism. Spicer is not inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt and thus perhaps exaggerates their single-minded determination to conflate Nazism and Catholicism. He shows, in the aftermath, that many brown priests were exculpated by denazification courts, and almost all eventually made their way back into public ministry.

Writing for an English-speaking audience about events on another continent that took place nearly three-quarters of a century ago presents real difficulties, all the more since Spicer clearly has no sympathy for his subjects. But his purpose is clear: to draw attention to the folly and danger of allowing political fervor to distort the orthodox heritage of the Church, or to sanction the fanaticism that only encouraged the Nazis in their radical campaigns, especially against...