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I Knew Hitler: Kurt Ludecke On Hitler and the “Christian” Churches
Hitler: “Yes, National Socialism is a form of conversion [the idea of a tangible, living faith], a new faith [the sense of renewal], but we don’t need to raise that issue—it will come of itself [he is insinuating that Germans will eventually throw off the yoke of “Christianity” in favor of this living faith]. … once we hold the power, Christianity [as practiced up to this point] will be overcome and the Deutsche Kirche [he is referring to the future Reich Church] established. Yes, the German church [emphasis added] without the Pope [false Christian bigot in Hitler’s opinion] and without the Bible [a new de-Jewified tract of the New Testament was probably going to replace the official Bible—which Hitler donned “that Jewish artifact”]—and Luther, if he could be with us, would give us his blessing” [which may well be true—I would recommend Luther’s The Jews and their Lies for confirmation]. - Ludecke, I Knew Hitler, 520.
Ludecke (on Hitler’s wreath laying ceremony for Horst Wessel): “ … But while these preliminaries were in progress, Hitler [instead] went with Göbbels to lay a wreath on the grave of Horst Wessel in a Berlin cemetery. As the act not only of a party leader but of the chancellor of a Christian country, it was an intended affront to the Christian nature of that country [this is Ludecke’s opinion here, keep in mind] and a challenge to the Catholic church [which Hitler thought was a farce to begin with, seeing as how the Catholic Church has a criminal record without equal in human history], of which the Führer was nominally a member. The story went about that Hitler did it because he had been refused communion [like he would have cared] by the Church—sheer nonsense in view of the fact that for years he had not set foot in a church to confess and pray, probably never since the war. He was plainly throwing down his glove to the Church that had refused church funerals to dead S.A. heroes and had threatened [these really sound like great, loving Christians don’t they?] Catholic ‘Nazis’ [true Christians] with excommunication. And the Catholic Church evidently weighed the gesture and realized its own situation, for it adopted a more conciliatory attitude.” - Ibid., 521-22.
I really like this passage because it gives us much insight when used in conjunction with other memoirs and documents. Even though Hitler admits his “heathenness” and insinuates that he will rid the German Reich of the Catholic and Protestant illnesses, he never renounced his Catholic standing, refused to launch attacks against the various churches unless they caused political or social upheaval that could not be ignored, and he authorized the use of the Bible in the German schools, though it was probably the “de-Jewified” version. He told Wagener that he wanted the German youth to be educated in the ways of Christ, not necessarily the Church.
I think the Church issue really caused Hitler a lot of heartache, and this makes sense when one looks at it from his perspective. He was trying to usher in a national socio-political revival as peacefully as possible, but the churches and their representatives were extremely resistant to the immense power the state was acquiring rather rapidly. But therein is where the problem lies… what ever happened to separation of Church and State? Hitler was an ardent supporter of the separation policy, and the Catholic Church probably based most of its dislike for him on that premise alone. Their power was being usurped by Hitler and his party, which ultimately evolved into the bureaucratic apparatus of the entire state. Let us face it, no institution wants to be dictated to if it can avoid it.
Hitler believed that the church, if it was indeed really and truly a spiritual and Christian entity, should remain completely aloof from the political scene. I think this is a reasonable demand. I think things would have been so very different—probably for the good, as opposed to the bad—if the churches had just cooperated and stopped waging war against Hitler and the party.
The fact of the matter is, the Catholic Church has always been a power-hungry institution, and it has unfortunately done much more harm than good throughout its existence. Lest we forget the torture and mass murder of Jews and alleged witches, the slaughter of AmerIndians, the slaughter of native Africans, and the Crusades, which led to the senseless deaths of Christians, Muslims, and even children. Also, do not forget that the Popes were acting as instigators and war-lords, and one Pope even had men castrated. I do not know about you, but this does not sound very loving to me.
Anyway, these are the main reasons Hitler had qualms with the churches and Christianity. It had nothing to do with faith, but rather, the church’s never-ending power struggles with the state and its leadership.
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