The Catholic Church And Nazi Germany
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The subject matter of this book is controversial, Guenter Lewy states plainly in his preface. To show the German Catholic Churchs congeniality with some of the goals of National Socialism and its gradual entrapment in Nazi policies and programs, Lewy describes the episcopates support of Hitlers expansionist policies and its failures to speak out on the persecution of the Jews. To this tragic history Lewy brings new focus and research, illuminating one of the darkest corners of our century with scholarship and intellectual honesty in a riveting, and often painful, narrative.
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First Sentence
On January 30, 1933, Hitler became chancellor of the German Republic. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
On January 30, 1933, Hitler became chancellor of the German Republic. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The role of the Vatican and of both Catholic institutions and Catholics under Nazi rule has recently once more come under the scrutiny of historians and of the general public at large. Signs - and causes - of such renewed interest are many and varied. The release of Costa-Gavras's film, "Amen" (based on Rolf Hochhuth's play, "The Deputy"), the much debated beatification of Edith Stein and Pope Pious XII, the controvery over the opening of the Vatican Archives for the years of the war, and of their accessibility to non-Catholic scholars - to name but a few. In spite of heated discussions, very little has been published for the historical clarification of such a crucial issue. The lack of new documents being released makes this new 2000 edition of Guenther Lewy's 1964 classic, *The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany*, an extremely welcome exception. Carefully research and backed by innumerable quotations from all available sources, the book analyses the difficult course of the Church as target to the Nazi onslaught and at the same time as a - mainly silent - potential defender of the regime's many victims (with special attention being paid, as is due, to the Shoah). The roles - and responsibilities - of Pious XI and Pious XII are explored, as well as the stance of the German episcopate and of German Catholics at large. Thus the book makes for an extremely interesting read, not only in shedding light on these darkest of times in the XX century, but also in posing and discussing the crucial question of the boundaries separating self-defense and collaboration, and of the relative weight of political effectiveness versus the imperative of bearing moral witness.
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7 reviews
38 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Thoroughly Scholarly, Painfully Convincing
21 Sep 2000
Format:Paperback
Having read, "Hitler's Pope" I eagerly grabbed Lewy's book as it became available. To my mind, it is far more scholarly than the former, and thus more convincing. Many of the criticisms leveled at "Hitler's Pope" will be undone by the new year 2000 release of Gunter Lewy's work. He has done his homework and it is painfully clear that "evil triumphs when good men do nothing." One watches the gradual trend from outright condemnation of Nazism by the German Catholic bishops, such as forbidding mutual membership in both th Nazi party and the Catholic church; forbidding the sacraments to Nazi party members; forbidding the wearing of the Nazi uniform in church, etc., to first softening their views, then allowing their protests to be couched in such ambiguous language as to have little effect, then accomodating portions of the Nazi program, then outright concluding an agreement between the Church and Reich. Pressure of the reality of the growing power of the Nazi regime, the desire of the Catholic laity to be both Catholic and Nazi (after all the Nazi party controlled their jobs and all of the societal institutions, in time), and the timorous hope of the Church that by accomodating the Reich, it might favorably influence the Reich toward a more humane perspective, all combined to give Hitler the sanction of the most widely recognized moral authority in the world. Frightening, to be sure.
One sees similar arguments in the recent agreement between the United States and Communist China. We expect to reform them, by getting into bed with them, so to speak. If "The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany" is any indication of how such accomodations work, they will do more to corrupt us than we do to reform them.
Worth reading. A bit difficult to read because of its very methodical scholarship, but compelling nevertheless.
9 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Historically Accurate
11 Jun 2009
Format:Paperback
The subject matter is controversial; no doubt about it. But sometimes the truth hurts. We have to be honest about what occurred in the past so we do not repeat it. This is probably one of the most authoritative texts on the subject. Another good read is "Constantine's Sword".
This is a very interesting, accurate and informative read, albeit a little dry at times. Books like these can actually help the Church to avoid repeating past mistakes. The purpose is not to "bash" the church, but to document what occurred. What occurred does not put the church in a positive light. Let's face it folks, with the church comes good, and bad. Keep both in perspective.
This is a very interesting, accurate and informative read, albeit a little dry at times. Books like these can actually help the Church to avoid repeating past mistakes. The purpose is not to "bash" the church, but to document what occurred. What occurred does not put the church in a positive light. Let's face it folks, with the church comes good, and bad. Keep both in perspective.
56 of 87 people found the following review helpful
Painfully Fair
18 May 2001
Format:Paperback
The Christian contribution and response to the actions of Nazi Germany, in particular the Holocaust, is perhaps the most apalling event in the history of Western civilization. One reads Mr. Lewy's contribution to Holocaust scholarship with an ever growing sense of rage. One's rage is not directed at the Catholic Church in particular, because there were no corporate heroes in this tragic episode. There were individual acts of heroism, to be sure, but at best the Church (and by Church, I mean Protestant as well as Catholic)is guilty of massive self-interest and moral cowardice. This book is a case study in the behavior of one group. A sense of fairness and dry scholarship pervades this book. One will not find diatribes here; neither will one find the selective omission of facts favorable to the church mentioned by one reviewer. One will find the facts laid out by someone who has bent over backward to give the benefit of the doubt but who has also laid out the case against the Church with the skill of a brilliant and experienced prosecutor. Only occasionally do his outrage and passion shine through, and then only in summary and conclusion paragraphs. Is the author fair? He is at pains to describe the persecution of the Catholic Church by the Nazis. He leaves no doubt that throughout the Nazi period, the very existence of the Church as a moral force was endangered by Nazi arrogance, contempt, deceit, and betrayal. The Church was, indeed, a wounded church, dealing from a position of weakness, not strength. And yet. In its zeal to protect the institution, the Church abandoned, perhaps forever, any claim it may have ever had to moral legitimacy (my claim, not Lewy's). Better for the German Catholic Church to have died a martyr's death than to live as Hitler's more or less willing pawn. People are more precious in God's sight than institutions.
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