141 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 217 (entry for 13 July 1937); see also ibid., vol. 3/2, p. 317 (entry for 5 Jan. 1937): “Debates about Spain at table.”
142 See Görtemaker, Eva Braun, pp. 170–2; Joachimsthaler, Hitlers Liste, pp. 512f. (Nicolaus von Below’s and Herbert Döhring’s statements); Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 97.
143 See Görtemaker, Eva Braun, pp. 77, 173f. See also the image of the “unpolitical” Eva Braun in Speer, Erinnerungen, p. 107; Dietrich, 12 Jahre mit Hitler, p. 235; Joachimsthaler, Hitlers Liste, pp. 474f. (Herbert Döhring’s statement); Schroeder, Er war mein Chef, p. 166.
19 Hitler and the Churches
1 Adolf Hitler, Monologe im Führerhauptquartier 1941–1944: Die Aufzeichnungen Heinrich Heims, ed. Werner Jochmann, Hamburg, 1980, p. 150 (dated 13 Dec. 1941); see also Hitlers Tischgespräche im Führerhauptquartier, ed. Henry Picker, Stuttgart, 1976, p. 80 (dated 13 Dec. 1941). Hitler said in February 1942 that by the age of fifteen at the latest he “didn’t believe [in religion] any more.” He added that only “a few stupid model students believed in so-called Communion.” Hitler, Monologe, p. 288 (dated 20/21 Feb. 1942). Schwerin von Krosigk opined that it was the “very bigoted brand of Catholicism” in Austria which repelled the young Hitler and turned him against religion. Schwerin von Krosigk, essay on Hitler’s personality, (c.1945); IfZ München, ZS 145, vol. 5. For a similar assessment see Hanskarl von Hasselbach “Hitlers Einstellung zum Christentum”; BA Koblenz, N 1128/33. By contrast, Friedrich Heer’s thesis (Der Glaube des Adolf Hitler: Anatomie einer politischen Religiosität, Munich, 1968, 2nd edition, 1998) that Hitler was influenced by “specifically Catholic elements” seems rather implausible.
2 Hitler, Monologe, p. 40 (dated 11/12 July 1941).
3 Ibid., p. 108 (dated 25 Oct. 1941).
4 Ibid., p. 83 (dated 14 Oct. 1941).
5 See Michael Rissman, Hitlers Gott: Vorsehungsglaube und Sendungsbewusstsein eines deutschen Diktators, Zurich and Munich, 2001, pp. 30–3, 42–52.
6 For an analysis of Hitler’s Christmas addresses see Friedrich Tomberg, Das Christentum in Hitlers Weltanschauung, Munich, 2012, pp. 118–20, 124–6, 128–31.
7 Walther Hofer (ed.), Der Nationalsozialismus: Dokumente 1933–1945, Frankfurt am Main, 2011, p. 30.
8 Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf. Vol. 1: Eine Abrechnung, 7th edition, Munich, 1933, pp. 127, 379.
9 See above p. 206. See also Klaus Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich. Vol. 1: Vorgeschichte und Zeit der Illusion 1918–1934, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Vienna, 1977, pp. 116–22. Otto Erbersdobler, the Gauleiter of Lower Bavaria from 1929 to 1932, quotes Hitler saying in relation to Dinter: “We’re politicians and not religious reformers. Those who feel called to become reformers should do so, but not in our party.” IfZ München, ZS 1949.
10 Ernst Piper, Alfred Rosenberg: Hitlers Chefideologe, Munich, 2005, p. 185; see also Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, p. 240.
11 Tischgespräche, p. 213 (dated 11 April 1942). See ibid., p. 416 (dated 4 July 1942), where Hitler states that he “always thought that it was a mistake for Rosenberg to get involved in a discussion with the Church.”
12 Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, p. 280; see Hans-Ulrich Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftsgeschichte 1914 –1949, Munich, 2003, p. 798: “He successfully styled himself as a ‘homo religiosus’ in the highest office of state.”
13 Max Domarus, Hitler: Reden und Proklamationen 1932–1945. Vol. 1: Triumph. Part 1: 1932–1934, Munich, 1965, p. 192.
14 Ibid., pp. 232f.
15 See Michael Hesemann, Hitlers Religion: Die fatale Heilslehre des Nationalsozialismus, Munich, 2004, pp. 363f.; John Cornwell, Pius XII: Der Papst, der geschwiegen hat, Munich, 1999, pp. 139–41.
16 See Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, pp. 300, 303.
17 Cited in ibid., p. 320.
18 Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels. Part 1: Aufzeichnungen 1923–1941, ed. Elke Fröhlich, Munich, 1998, vol. 2/3, p. 197 (entry for 4 June 1933).
19 Akten der Reichskanzlei: Die Regierung Hitler. Part 1: 1933/34. Vol. 1: 30. Januar bis 30. April 1933, ed. Karl-Heinz Minuth, Boppard am Rhein, 1983, no. 44, p. 160.
20 On the negotiations see Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, pp. 487–511; Cornwell, Pius XII, pp. 175–87.
21 Die Regierung Hitler, part 1, vol. 1, no. 193, p. 683.
22 Quoted in Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, p. 514.
23 See Cornwell, Pius XII, pp. 193–7; Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich in Power 1933–1939, London, 2005, pp. 241–3.
24 Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, pp. 660f.
25 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 346 (entry for 27 Dec. 1933).
26 See Klaus Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich. Vol. 2: Das Jahr der Ernüchterung 1934—Barmen und Rom, Berlin, 1985, pp. 137f.
27 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 293 (entry for 16 Dec. 1936).
28 Quoted in Hesemann, Hitlers Religion, p. 370; see Rudolf Morsey (ed.), Fritz Gerlich: Ein Publizist gegen Hitler. Briefe und Akten 1930–1934, Paderborn, 2010, p. 30.
29 See John S. Conway, Die nationalsozialistische Kirchenpolitik 1933–1945: Ihre Ziele, Widersprüche und Fehlschläge, Munich, 1969, pp. 114f.; Cornwell, Pius XII, p. 203; Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 2, pp. 253–9.
30 Quoted in Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, p. 263. On the receptiveness of the Protestant social milieu to National Socialism, see the excellent study by Manfred Gailus, Protestantismus und Nationalsozialismus: Studien zur nationalsozialistischen Durchdringung des protestantischen Sozialmilieus in Berlin, Cologne, Weimar and Vienna, 2001, pp. 57ff.
31 See Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, pp. 272f.
32 Quoted in ibid., p. 299. When the Enabling Act was passed on 23 March 1933, the head of the German Christians in Hesse-Nassau and Hesse-Darmstadt, Gustav Adolf Wilhelm Meyer, wrote to Hitler expressing his “most fervent thanks before God, who has thus far so visibly and wonderfully blessed your battle on behalf of Germany and who has now crowned it with majestic victory.” BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 51/45.
33 Annelise Thimme (ed.), Friedrich Thimme 1868–1938: Ein politischer Historiker, Publizist und Schriftsteller in seinen Briefen, Boppard am Rhein, 1994, pp. 320f. (dated 14 Feb. 1933).
34 Ibid., p. 333 (dated 25 May 1933).
35 Ibid., p. 340 (dated 4 Oct. 1933).
36 Quoted in Ernst Klee, “Die SA Jesu Christi”: Die Kirche im Banne Hitlers, Frankfurt am Main, 1989, p. 31.
37 See Thomas Martin Schneider, Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller: Eine Untersuchung zu Leben, Werk und Persönlichkeit, Göttingen, 1993, pp. 105f.
38 See Gailus, Protestantismus und Nationalssozialismus, pp. 115f.; Schneider, Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller, p. 146; Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, pp. 479–81.
39 See Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, pp. 565–9. See a detailed analysis of the votes of the Berlin parishes in Gailus, Protestantismus und Nationalsozialismus, pp. 117–22.
40 As in Schneider, Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller, p. 152.
41 For the above quotes see James Bentley, Martin Niemöller: Eine Biographie, Munich, 1985, p. 93. On Niemöller’s attitude in the first half of 1933 see ibid., p. 60.
42 Kurt Meier, Kreuz und Hakenkreuz: Die evangelische Kirche im Dritten Reich, Munich, 1992, p. 49.
43 Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, pp. 703f.; Meier, Kreuz und Hakenkreuz, pp. 50f.
44 See Schneider, Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller, pp. 164f.; Bentley, Martin Niemöller, pp. 99f.
45 See Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 1, p. 721, vol. 2, p. 14; Schneider, Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller, p. 168.
46 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 332.
47 Bentley, Martin Niemöller, pp. 105–7.
48 Tisc
hgespräche, p. 204 (dated 7 April 1942); see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 363 (entry for 28 Jan. 1934): “[Hitler] is flogging the priests to the point of complete collapse.”
49 On the meeting at the Chancellery on 25 Jan. 1934 see Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 2, pp. 59–64; Bentley, Martin Niemöller, pp. 109–12; Meier, Kreuz und Hakenkreuz, pp. 60f.; Schneider, Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller, pp. 186, 191.
50 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 40 (entry for 28 April 1934).
51 See Schneider, Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller, pp. 191–3; Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 2, pp. 75ff., 159ff.
52 Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 2, p. 190 (quotations on p. 191).
53 Bentley, Martin Niemöller, pp. 137f.; on the Dahlem synod of 19–20 Oct. 1934, see also Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 2, pp. 339–47.
54 See Bentley, Martin Niemöller, pp. 138f.; on the conversation of 30 Oct. 1934 see Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, vol. 2, pp. 354f.; Gerhard Besier, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich: Spaltungen und Abwehrkämpfe 1934–1937, Berlin and Munich, 2001, pp. 19–21 (Besier’s portrayal is markedly opposite to Scholder’s).
55 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 126 (entry for 25 Oct. 1934).
56 Schneider, Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller, pp. 215f.
57 See Ian Kershaw, The Hitler Myth: Image and Reality in the Third Reich, Oxford, 1987, pp. 105–20.
58 Conway, Die nationalsozialistische Kirchenpolitik, pp. 149f.; on the establishment of the Reich Church Ministry see Schneider, Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller, pp. 218f.; Meier, Kreuz und Hakenkreuz, pp. 129–33; Besier, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, pp. 287ff.
59 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 278 (entry for 19 Aug. 1935). See also Hans Günter Hockerts, “Die Goebbels-Tagebücher 1932–1941: Eine neue Hauptquelle zur Erforschung der nationalsozialistischen Kirchenpolitik,” in Dieter Albrecht, Hans Günter Hockerts, Paul Mikat and Rudolf Morsey (eds), Politik und Konfession: Festschrift für Konrad Repken zum 60. Geburtstag, Berlin, 1983, pp. 359–92.
60 Besier, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, pp. 164f.; see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 285 (entry for 31 Aug. 1935): “Pastoral letter by the Catholic bishops. Very critical. But in the end a prayer for the government. Oh well. They pray, we act.”
61 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 288 (entry for 6 Sept. 1935).
62 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 525f.
63 See Hans Günter Hockerts, Die Sittlichkeitsprozesse gegen katholische Ordensangehörige und Priester 1936/1937: Eine Studie zur nationalsozialistischen Herrschaftstechnik und zum Kirchenkampf, Mainz, 1971, pp. 63–6.
64 Ibid., p. 69; see Besier, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, pp. 715f.
65 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 219 (entry for 21 Oct. 1936).
66 Ludwig Volk (ed), Akten Kardinal Michael von Faulhabers 1917–1945. Vol. 2: 1935–1945, Mainz, 1978, pp. 184–94. On Hitler’s remarks to Faulhaber of 4 Nov. 1936 see Hockerts, Die Sittlichkeitsprozesse, pp. 70f.; Besier, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, pp. 762–5.
67 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, pp. 245 (entry for 10 Nov. 1936), 252 (entry for 15 Nov. 1936). See ibid., p. 240 (entry for 6 Nov. 1936): “The Vatican seems to have become very brittle. It will now have to decide whether it’s for us or against us. War or peace. We’re prepared whatever.”
68 Ibid., p. 316 (entry for 5 Jan. 1937). On the Christmas 1936 pastoral letter see Besier, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, pp. 773f.
69 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, pp. 353f. (entry for 31 Jan. 1937).
70 Ibid., p. 365 (entry for 9 Feb. 1937). See also ibid., p. 362 (entry for 6 Feb. 1937): “The churches have ruined our morale and our courage. Above all by making death into fearsome horror. Antiquity knew none of that.”
71 Ibid., p. 379 (entry for 18 Feb. 1937).
72 Ibid., p. 389 (entry for 23 Feb. 1937). See Hanskarl von Hasselbach’s essay “Hitlers Einstellung zur Religion”: “Hitler thinks that as a man from Galilee, Christ was of Aryan descent and that, with the exception of his ethical values, he was to be admired as a brilliant popular leader in the fight against the power and attacks by the demoralised Pharisees.” BA Koblenz, N 1128/33.
73 See Piper, Alfred Rosenberg, pp. 189–91. On the possible influence of Nietzsche on Hitler’s idea of Paul see Tomberg, Das Christentum in Hitlers Weltanschauung, pp. 14, 114, 152f.
74 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 389 (entry for 23 Feb. 1937).
75 Ibid., vol. 4, p. 49 (entry for 13 March 1937). See ibid., p. 166 (entry for 3 June 1937): “He expressed his gratitude for the role of the religious reformer.” See also Schwerin von Krosigk, “Essay on Hitler’s personality” (c.1945), who asserts that Hitler always resisted attempts within party circles “to found a new religion with him at its centre.” IfZ München, ZS 145, vol. 5.
76 Dieter Albrecht (ed.), Der Notenwechsel zwischen dem Heiligen Stuhl und der Deutschen Reichsregierung. Vol. 1: Von der Ratifizierung des Reichskonkordats bis zur Enzyklika “Mit brennender Sorge,” Mainz, 1965, no. 7, pp. 404–43. On the origin of the encyclical and the reaction to it see Cornwell, Pius XII, pp. 219–21; Besier, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, pp. 777ff.
77 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 62 (entry for 21 March 1937).
78 Ibid., p. 76 (entry for 2 April 1937).
79 Hockerts, Die Sittlichkeitsprozesse, p. 73.
80 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 116 (entry for 30 April 1937). See ibid., pp. 78 (entry for 4 April 1937), 83 (entry for 7 April 1937), 90 (entry for 13 April 1937), 115 (entry for 29 April 1937).
81 Ibid., pp. 86 (entry for 10 April 1937), 118 (entry for 1 May 1937).
82 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, p. 690. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 120 (entry for 2 May 1937): “The Führer hit the mark as always…with a pointed attack on clergymen who meddle in politics, which was received with frenetic applause.”
83 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 155 (entry for 28 May 1937). See ibid., p. 151 (entry for 26 May 1937).
84 Hockerts, Die Sittlichkeitsprozesse, p. 113.
85 Quotations in ibid., p. 114; Ralf Georg Reuth, Goebbels, Munich and Zurich, 1990, p. 361.
86 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 157 (entry for 29 May 1937).
87 Ibid., p. 164 (entry for 2 June 1937).
88 Quoted in Hockerts, Die Sittlichkeitsprozesse, p. 125.
89 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 209 (entry for 4 July 1937). See ibid., p. 229 (entry for 23 Sept. 1937).
90 See ibid., pp. 237 (entry for 28 July 1937): “The Führer wants to empower a special court for the preachers’ trial. That’s the only way to go!”; 255 (entry for 7 Aug. 1937): “He now finally, finally, wants to empower a special court.”
91 Ibid., vol. 5, p. 66 (entry for 22 Dec. 1937).
92 See Hockerts, Die Sittlichkeitsprozesse, pp. 75–7.
93 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 135 (entry for 12 May 1937).
94 Ibid., vol. 3/2, p. 328 (entry for 14 Jan. 1937).
95 Ibid., p. 375 (entry for 15 Feb. 1937). On the resignation of the Reich Church Committee and Kerrl’s attempted decree, see Besier, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, pp. 631–40; Conway, Die nationalsozialistische Kirchenpolitik, pp. 221f.
96 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 375 (entry for 15 Feb. 1937).
97 Ibid., p. 376 (entry for 16 Feb. 1937).
98 Reprinted in Conway, Die nationalsozialistische Kirchenpolitik, p. 222.
99 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 376 (entry for 16 Feb. 1937).
100 See Meier, Kreuz und Hakenkreuz, p. 136.
101 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 238 (entry for 29 July 1937); see ibid., p. 191 (entry for 22 June 1937).
102 Ibid.,
vol. 5, p. 39 (entry for 7 Dec. 1937).
103 Ibid., vol. 5, p. 6 (entry for 22 Dec. 1937).
104 See Bentley, Martin Niemöller, pp. 155–61; Gailus, Protestantismus und Nationalsozialismus, pp. 306–8, 328–30.
105 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 208 (entry for 3 July 1937). See ibid., p. 209 (entry for 4 July 1937): “We have the swine now and we’re not letting go of him.”
106 Ibid., vol. 5, p. 65 (entry for 22 Dec. 1937). See ibid., p. 109 (entry for 21 Jan. 1938): “The Niemöller case: the Führer will never release him. That’s the only correct thing to do.”
107 See Bentley, Martin Niemöller, pp. 171–3.
108 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 185 (entry for 2 March 1938). For a view of the Niemöller trial through the eyes of Goebbels see ibid., pp. 136 (entry for 5 Feb. 1938), 142 (entry for 8 Feb. 1938), 166 (entry for 20 Feb. 1938), 172 (entry for 23 Feb. 1938), 179 (entry for 27 Feb. 1938).
109 Ibid., p. 187 (entry for 4 March 1938).
110 Christa Schroeder to Johanna Nusser, 21 April 1939; IfZ München, ED 524; reprinted in Christa Schroeder, Er war mein Chef: Aus dem Nachlass der Sekretärin von Adolf Hitler, ed. Anton Joachimsthaler, 3rd edition, Munich and Vienna, 1985, pp. 93–7 (quotation on p. 96).
111 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 6, p. 215 (entry for 8 Dec. 1938).
20 Prelude to Genocide
1 Quoted in Die Verfolgung und Ermordung der europäischen Juden durch das nationalsozialistische Deutschland 1933–1945. Vol. 1: Deutsches Reich 1933–1937, ed. Wolf Gruner, Munich, 2008, doc. 276, p. 658. The full text of the speech in Hildegard von Kotze and Helmut Krausnick (eds), “Es spricht der Führer”: 7 exemplarische Hitler-Reden, Gütersloh, 1966, pp. 123–77.
2 See Saul Friedländer, Das Dritte Reich und die Juden: Die Jahre der Verfolgung 1933–1939, Munich, 1998, vol. 1, p. 206.
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