German Catholics and Hitler S Wars: Theology

by Gordon C. Zahn

Book Overview

Prior to the outbreak of World War II, nearly forty thousand German Catholics were involved in the German Catholic Peace League, a movement that caused many people in various countries to seriously reconsider the dimension of pacifism in their faith. During the course of the War, however, many of these same German Catholics raised no serious objection to serving in Germany's armies or swearing allegiance to Adolph Hitler.

First published...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 026801017X
• ISBN13: 9780268010171
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Thank God for honest Catholic scholars like Gordon!

It's a shame that only one reviewer has preceded me. If Catholics were reading this book, there would probably be many trying to undermine it, as there are the excellent book by another Roman Catholic scholar, John Cornwell. Cornwell's book may be making a bigger splash because of his controversial title, "Hitler's Pope, the secret history of Pius XII". Both authors are obviously pained, as Catholics themselves, by the facts which they uncovered, and are not happy to be exposing the shameful record of their church regarding the Holocaust. But loyalty to God does not allow them to hide or misrepresent the truth about their church. And for that they are to be praised - by God, if not by all of their fellow Catholics! - The prior reviewer does a great job of summarizing Gordon Zahn's book. I urge Christians as well as Jews to read both of these books, (...)

Detailed record of bishops' support for Hitler's war.

This book exposes the powerful support for Hitler and his war on the part of the German Catholic hierarchy.These men were, for the most part, anti-Nazi.Their protests, however, were limited to complaints about harassment of Catholics, confiscation of religious property and the creation a new pagan cult.For the most part they urged their flocks to support the Nazis, especially in World War Two.Prohibitions against support of unjust wars had no affect on them and Zahn enumerates the reasons why.First of all, Catholic teaching led them to support the secular government. In this regard, the Pope's recognition of Hitler's regime as legitimate set a tragic example for all Catholics to follow.Second, like most Germans, they were pained by their country's set-backs in World War One and yearned for Germany to attain the glorious role it deserved on the world stage.Another contributing factor was, apparently, the important role that obedience to authority and duty to the fatherland played in German culture.Finally, these men feared Communism. Communists had staged a number of unsuccessful coups in Germany in the years following World War One and Hitler was against Bolshevism.Ironically, Zahn repeatedly refers to these men as heroes while portraying them as leaders gone astray.Some had been active in the inter-war peace movement but Zahn quotes sermon after sermon in which they urge their congregations to serve loyally and lavish praise upon soldiers "defending" their country.In a number of asides Zahn also calls into question the role of the bishops' opposite numbers in the Allied camp whom, he feels, betrayed their callings as well when they did not oppose the bombing of cities and demand for an unconditional surrender.