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- Nazi photos showing Christian influence
- compiled by Jim Walker
- created: 20 May 1998
- additions: 02 July 2008
The following photos provide a pictorial glimpse
of Hitler, how his Nazis mixed religion with government, and
the support for Hitler by the Protestant and Catholic Churches
in Germany. In, no way, does this gallery of photos intend to
support Nazism or anti-Semitism, but instead, intends to warn
against them.
- (TV Photo from History Channel’s
- “Hitler’s Lost Plan,” aired
18 April 2005)
- (Photo source: The
Hitler No One Knows: 100 Pictures
of the Life of the Führer, by
Heinrich Hoffmann)
(TV Photo from National Geographic Channel’s "Dawn of the Nazis: Becoming Hitler," aired Dec. 2011)Hitler With Whip (acting
like ‘Jesus’)Hitler’s close friend, Dietrich Eckart, told
of overhearing Hitler showing off to a lady by denouncing Berlin
in extravagant terms: “. . . the luxury, the perversion,
the iniquity, the wanton display and the Jewish materialism disgusted
me so thoroughly that I was almost beside myself. I nearly imagined
myself to be Jesus Christ when he came to his Father’s Temple
and found the money changers.” Eckart described Hitler as
“brandishing his whip and exclaimed that it was his mission
to descend upon the capital like a Christ and scourge the corrupt.”And found in the temple those that sold oxen
and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when
he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of
the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’
money, and overthrew the tables.
–John 2:14-15
(Note, a scourge of small cords describes a
whip.)
Hitler wth Archbishop Cesare Orsenigo, the papal nuncio
in Berlin, 1935On April 20, 1939, Archbishop Orsenigo celebrated
Hitler’s birthday. The celebrations, initiated by Pacelli (Pope
Pius XII) became a tradition. Each April 20, Cardinal Bertram
of Berlin was to send “warmest congratulations to the Fuhrer
in the name of the bishops and the dioceses in Germany”
and added with “fervent prayers which the Catholics of Germany
are sending to heaven on their altars.”(Source: Hitler’s
Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, by John Cornwell)(see also USHMM)
The Fuhrer in Franken
Adolf Hitler (center) at the monument for
the war dead in Franken Germany. According to Ray Cowdery,
Hitler rarely missed an opportunity to visit war memorials, even
when a photographer was not present.
(Source: Hitler: The Hoffmann Photographs,
Vol. 1, Ray Cowdery, Ed., 1990)
Hitler greets Muller the
“Bishop of the Reich” and Abbot Schachleitner
Hitler greets a Catholic Cardinal (Source:
USHMM)
Hitler leaving Church
Hitler leaves the Marine Church in Wilhelmshaven.
(Source: The
German Propaganda Archive)
Hitler at Nazi party rally
Note the “Church of our Lady” in
the background as if it represented the foundation of the party.
Photo taken in Nuremberg, Germany (circa 1928).
(Source: 20th
Century History)
Church & State
Hitler in front of “Church of our Lady”
in Nuremberg, Sept. 1934. Photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann.
(Source: USHMM)
Hitler signing his autograph for a Christian fan
(Source: Hitler in Seinen Bergen, Heinrich
Hoffmann, Berlin, den 24.9.35)
Hitler praying The caption reads: “Der ergreifende Abschlub
der Kundgebung in Wien: Wir treten zum Beten…”[The touching and emotional end of the rally
in Vienna: Let us pray…](Source: Hitler: The Hoffmann Photographs,
Vol. 1, Ray R. Cowdery, Ed., 1990)
Hitler’s mother’s grave
Klara Hitler was a pious Catholic mother who
raised Hitler according to her beliefs.Hitler felt grief-stricken over his mother’s
death. She was buried alongside her husband in Linz, Austria.
German soldiers here pay their respects to the grave in 1938.Note the Christian cross on her monument.
(Source: The
Importance of Adolf Hitler, by Eleanor H. Ayer, Lucent Books, 1996,
p. 25)To see what the gravesite looks like today,
click here.
The Göring Wedding
Only Christians perform Christian weddings,
and the Nazis were no exception.Hermann Göring married Emmy Sonnemann,
a famous Opera star.Adolf Hitler stands in the front row as “Best
Man” during the ceremony in the Cathedral by Reichbishop
Müller.(Source: ThirdReich.ca)
Nazi Christmas (Some people
seem to think that Hitler banned Christmas, but at no time did
he ever ban Christmas or any other Christian holiday.)
Autobahn workers as guests of Hitler
in the Berlin Sportpalast at Christmas in 1938. Note the
Christmas trees on the right.
(Source: calvin.edu)
Hitler celebrating Christmas with
his soldiers.
(Source: calvin.edu)
Christmas 1942/43
(Source: forum.axishistory.com)
Christmas 1944 with Nazi officers
and their girlfriends.
Note the German Santa Claus.
(Source: www.dhm.de/)
(Source: Wikipedia)
The Concordat between the Vatican and the Nazis
Cardinal Secretary of State, Eugenio Pacelli
(later to become Pope Pius XII) signs the Concordat between Nazi
Germany and the Vatican at a formal ceremony in Rome on 20 July
1933. Nazi Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen sits at the left,
Pacelli in the middle, and the Rudolf Buttmann sits at the right.The Concordat effectively legitimized Hitler
and the Nazi government to the eyes of Catholicism, Christianity,
and the world.The full text of the concordat appears on the Concordat Watch website. (click here to see the text).
Hitler’s Brown Army attending and
leaving church services. These photos were published by Nazis
during Hitler’s reign.
(Source: Das Braune Heer: mit einem
Geleitwort von Adolf Hitler [Translation: The Brown Army: with
a foreword by Adolf Hitler], Photos by Heinrich Hoffmann)
A Nazi flag flies in front of the Cologne Cathedral, 1937
(Source: USHMM)
Hitler Oath:
I swear by God,
this holy oath,
to the Führer of the German Reich and people.
Adolf Hitler…(Source: Hitler: Tyrant of Terror, shown on
the History Channel)
Nazi Graves
One must not forget that Germany represented
the most Christianized country in the world in the 1930s and
40s. Nazi Christian soldiers died as Protestants and Catholics
and their grave markers testified to their religion.
(Source: Photoarchive of the Thrid Reich: http://stolz.by.ru/)
ST Front
(Source: Photoarchive
of the Thrid Reich)
- Chaplain with a machine gun unit
- (Source: axishistory.com)
- Most wars are justified on religious grounds.
- Of course if a soldier felt uneasy about
slaughtering others, they could always turn to a chaplain who
would then patiently explain to them that killing is allowed
by God and about the righteous morality of war. He might then
give a few Biblical examples of God ordained killings. And then
he might tell them that Jesus will forgive them and send them
to Heaven if they should happen to die.
Nazi funeral
(Source: Third Reich Depot)According to the source, this period photo comes from the SS Heimwehr Danzig Funeral/Festivities for Fallen SS Soldiers of the "Battle of Westerplatte" that occured in Poland in 1939.
Wehrmacht Chaplain With Catholic Cross
(Photo source: unknown)
Catholic Bishops giving the
Nazi salute in honor of Hitler.
Note Joseph Goebbels (far right) and Wilhelm Frick (second from right)
(Source: USHMM, Photo source: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek [Bavarian State Library])
Franciscan friars gathered around German soldiers
(Source: USHMM)
An Archbishop with the Nazis
Archbishop Cesare Orsenigo, head of the Diplomatic Corps, attending the Nuremburg Party Rally in September 1933.
According to Dr. Paul O’Shea, Orsenigo, as Dean of the Corps, it was the Nuncio’s role to lead the Corps at all major government functions. After 1935 Orsenigo did not attend major government propaganda displays.
- (Photo source: A
Moral Reckoning: The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust
and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen) [Note, Goldhagen incorrectly attributes this photo to Cardinal Faulhaber.]
Cardinal Bertram in the funeral procession for Bishop Bares,
Berlin, 7 March 1935
As a chairman of the German bishop conference
the Breslauer Cardinal Bertram plays a crucial role in shaping
the attitude of the German bishops in relation to the National
Socialist state.(Photo source: Gedenkstätte
Deutscher Widerstand)
Welcome Celebration for Bishop Konrad Graf von Preysing
in the Sportpalast, Berlin, 8 Sept. 1935Note the Catholic Chi-Rho Cross to the right
of the Nazi flag. Chi and Rho are the first two letters of the
Greek word for Christ. The Chi Rho Cross, or warrior’s cross,
originated from the monogram of Roman Emperor Constantine. How
fitting it appears next to a swastika.Following the death of Berlin’s Bishop Bares,
Pope Pius XI unexpectedly selects Konrad Graf von Preysing, a
little-known Eichstatt bishop, as bishop of Berlin. Berlin,
the region for which he is responsible, now also includes the
center of the National Socialist power structure and so requires
a high degree of political skill from its ecclesiastical leader.(Photo source: Gedenkstätte
Deutscher Widerstand)
Priests giving the Hitler salute
Priests giving the Hitler salute at a Catholic
youth rally in the Berlin-Neukölln stadium in August 1933.(Source: A
Moral Reckoning: The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and
Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen)
Catholic Service for Nazis
(Photo source: unknown)
Ludwig Müller, a Nazi sympathizer,
and a candidate of Hitler, was elected to the position of Reich
Bishop in 1933 as Hitler attempted to unite regional Protestant
churches under Nazi control. Hitler did not practice separation
of Church & State.Although Hitler had problems with the Catholic
Church and eventually wanted to replace Catholicism with his
brand of Christianity, the very fact that Hitler wanted a united
German Church proves that he supported Christianity.Berlin, Germany, November 17, 1933.
(Source: USHMM)
This autographed portrait of Müller shows
him wearing the NSDAP-Hoheitsabzeichen (Nazi Eagle party badge) and
Feldschnalle (ribbons).(Click image for an enlarged view)
(Source: sent by email from Gregers Forssling)
Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller, Berlin, 1934
(Photo source: Gedenkstätte
Deutscher Widerstand)
- Mass meeting of the German Christian Movement
- 13 Nov.1933
A radical wing of German Lutheranism and the
main Protestant branch supporting Nazi ideology, the German Christian
Movement reconciled Christian doctrine with German nationalism
and antisemitism.(Source: Museum
of Tolerance)
Investiture of Reich Church Bishop, 1933
Women in traditional dresses joined Nazis
at the investiture of Ludwig Müller as Reich Church Bishop.
Müller praised the concept of “one mighty, all-embracing
German people’s church.”(Source: Museum
of Tolerance)
Deutsche Christen (German Christians)
- The Deutsche Christen (DC) became the voice of
Nazi ideology within the Evangelical Church (the Religious Right
of their day) and approved by Hitler. They proposed a church “Aryan
paragraph” to prevent “non-Aryans” from becoming
ministers or religious teachers. Most church leaders solidly supported
the “Judenmission.” Only a very few number of Christians
opposed Nazism such as the “Confessing Christians” (a
Church movement not recognized by the Protestant orthodoxy) headed
by Dietrich
Bonhoeffer. The support of Nazism by the majority of German
Christians and German Christian leaders shows the danger of mixing
religion with government.- The photo on the left shows the procession of bishops in front of the Berlin Cathedral, 23 Sept. 1934.
SS guards stand at attention. The head of the march shows members
in party and SA uniforms while pastors follow in the rear.
Note the flags with the Christian cross with
the swastika in the middle. To see a movie trailer about the Deutsche Christen,
from the documentary film, “Theologians Under Hitler,”
click here.(Photo sources: unknown)
Deutsche Christen Flag
(Photo sources: unknown)
Deutsche Christen (German Christians)
SA storm troopers with placards of the “German
Christians,” Berlin, July 1933.On July 14, 1933, Hitler’s government approves
a new charter for the Protestant church. With massive intervention
by the NSDAP, the church elections scheduled only a short time
later result in a resounding victory for the “German Christians.”
Hitler himself appeals to all Protestant Christians in a radio
speech on the eve of the election to vote for the “German
Christians.” With its slogan “church must remain church,”(Source: Gedenkstätte
Deutscher Widerstand)Presidium of the “German Christians,” Berlin,
November 13, 1933The “German Christians” desired
to achieve absolute organizational and ideological conformity
between the Protestant church and the National Socialist state.
Following their triumphant success in the Protestant church elections
in July 1933 and the election of Ludwig Müller to the office
of Reich bishop, they feel they have reached the zenith of their
power over church policy in the autumn of 1933.(Source: Gedenkstätte
Deutscher Widerstand)
National Bishop Friedrich Coch giving a Hitler greeting
in Dresden, 10 December 1933Dresden pastor Friedrich Coch is one of the
leading men of the “German Christians” in Saxony. The
NSDAP’s Gau consultant for church matters since 1932, he is elected
to the office of state bishop by the “Brown Synod”
in August 1933.(Source: Gedenkstätte
Deutscher Widerstand)
For photos of Nazi artifacts and mementoes,
click here.
USHMM: United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum
