Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich: Spaltungen und Abwehrkämpfe, 1934–1937 (review)

Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich: Spaltungen und Abwehrkämpfe, 1934-1937. By Gerhard Besier. (Berlin: Propyläen. 2001. Pp. 1261. (€23.00.)

When Professor Klaus Scholder died in 1985 he had completed only two volumes of his magnum opus on the Churches and the Third Reich. But these took the narrative only to the end of 1934. Now his former pupil, Professor Gerhard Besier of the Heidelberg University, has carried the story on in a third volume of more than 1250 pages, including 300 of footnotes, which covers the period 1934-1937. So presumably we may yet hope for more to come. As before, this continuation adheres to Scholder's original aim of seeing the German Church Struggle as a whole, not limiting the story to one or other denomination, and in particular searching out the convoluted and grandiose schemes of the Nazi rulers. But Besier is equally aware of the dilemma as to whether such an account should treat the churches as a traditional unit of society and compare their responses to Nazi tyranny with those of other institutions. Or should the special role and claims of the Christian churches demand a higher standard of response, and, if so, a more critical judgment on their failures?

The years 1934-1937 were those of Hitler's consolidation of success. The economy revived; the national future looked bright; large expenditures were begun on public works and military rearmament. Nazi propaganda skillfully harped on Hitler's achievements, and paralyzed opposition. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of churchmen were prepared to support the new government. Only a handful of clergy recognized the dangers of Nazi totalitarian ambitions. They were quickly silenced or exiled. Only in the Protestant Confessing Church was there any organized opposition, but this was narrowly focused on the theological front to combat any watering down of Christian dogma.

The Catholic Church was particularly susceptible to the Nazis' alluring propaganda. They believed the promises made in connection with the 1933 Concordat; they were relieved that the spectre of Communism was overthrown; they rejoiced at no longer being regarded as second-class Germans. The bishops unanimously supported the new regime. Many Catholics also approved the Nazis' campaign against the Jews. Nazi anti-Christian radicalism was assumed to be merely confined to a few extremists.

This is the background for Besier's three lengthy chapters on the Catholic Church. Like Scholder, he treats the denominations separately, largely because there was virtually no interaction between them, and because the Nazi tactics were very different, even when their strategic goal was the restriction and eventual elimination of both churches. But virtually no one in either hierarchy was prepared to imagine such an eventuality. Their nationalist sympathies and desire to retain their positions as members of the establishment prevented them from facing the totalitarian spectre or mobilizing any effective large-scale resistance. Also like Scholder, Besier is highly critical of the Catholic bishops' failure to shed their illusions, even when prompted by the Vatican. Instead they vainly sought to hold the regime to the 1933 Concordat, to combat its ideological ferocity, and to maintain the loyalty of their laity, while accepting Hitler's leadership on all other matters. Besier gives a complete narrative of this cat-and-mouse game. He lays stress on the continuing timidity of the Catholic hierarchy, for instance after the so-called 1934 Röhm putsch, when several prominent Catholics were murdered and the bishops said nothing. Or again after the notorious Crystal Night pogrom of 1938. Of course Besier has the benefit of hindsight, but he also cites the views of contemporary Catholics largely disappointed that their leaders had not taken a more forceful stance. Given the seductive influence of Goebbels' propaganda on the one hand, and the unpredictable and illegal harassment of the Gestapo on the other, critical Catholics were sorely impeded. Yet Besier is right...