Voting Activity 6.5:Did the churches oppose the

Nazis?

Martin Niemöller (Pastor Niemöller)

• First World War hero

• Most prominent critic of Nazis

• Disliked Reich Church

• Formed Confessional Church

• Put into concentration camp

Paul Schneider

• Small-town pastor

• Arrested 1934 – ignored warnings to stop criticising Nazis

• Buchenwald concentration camp, 1937

• Tortured viciously but never caved in

• Sent to concentration camp, 1938

• Hitler ordered his death, but he survived

Cardinal Galen

• Publicly attacked Nazi policies, 1934

• Revealed euthanasia programme, 1941

• Led campaign and got it stopped

• Nazis left Galen alone so as not to make him a martyr

• Goebbels believed that attacking Galen would make large sections of Germany hostile

Josef Fath

• Catholic priest in small village of Leidersbach

• Ignored bans on church feast days

• Undermined local Nazi schoolteacher and Hitler Youth leaders

• Agitated over issue of crucifixes in schools

Jehovah’s Witnesses

• Lived according to own beliefs, not government orders

• Most Jehovah’s Witnesses ended up in camps and one-third died

Which individual or group posed the biggest problem for the Nazis?

1. Niemöller

2. Schneider

3. Galen

4. Fath

5. Jehovah’s Witnesses

Which individual or group do you admire the most?

1. Niemöller

2. Schneider

3. Galen

4. Fath

5. Jehovah’s Witnesses