Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS (Schutzstaffel), banned SS soldiers from openly attacking Christianity, despite his own personal disdain for the religion, for several strategic and political reasons:
1. Maintaining Public Support:
Christianity, particularly in its Catholic and Protestant forms, was deeply entrenched in German society during the NS era. Openly attacking Christianity would have alienated large portions of the population, many of whom were religious or had strong Christian cultural ties. Himmler and the NS leadership understood that the regime needed to avoid widespread discontent among Christians, who represented a significant part of the German populace. To maintain public support and avoid backlash, it was prudent not to make religion a public target.
2. Avoiding Conflict with the Churches:
While there was tension between the NS regime and the Christian churches, the National Socialists often sought to manage this tension carefully. Himmler understood that directly attacking Christianity would provoke stronger resistance from church leaders and institutions. The Catholic and Protestant churches were influential, with deep-rooted authority in their communities, and a direct confrontation could have created social and political instability.
3. Incremental Control over Religion:
Himmler and other leading National Socialists believed that, in the long run, Christianity would fade away as NS ideology and the SS’s pagan and occult-influenced beliefs took hold. However, they sought to implement this transition gradually. Himmler encouraged the spread of alternative belief systems within the SS, including paganism and Germanic mysticism, but he avoided outright attacks on Christianity to keep the process more subtle and less confrontational.
4. Hitler’s Influence:
Adolf Hitler himself had a complex relationship with Christianity. Although privately critical of the religion, Hitler recognized the political need to manage the relationship with Christian institutions. He understood the dangers of waging a direct, all-out attack on Christianity while trying to consolidate power. Himmler, being a loyal follower of Hitler’s directives, likely refrained from allowing the SS to attack Christianity as part of a broader NS strategy of maintaining public order and control.
5. Unity Among Soldiers:
The SS recruited men from a variety of backgrounds, many of whom came from Christian families. Openly attacking Christianity could have alienated some soldiers or caused division within the SS ranks. Himmler prioritized loyalty to the SS and its broader mission, and any ideological conflict over religion could have weakened this cohesion.
In summary, Himmler banned SS soldiers from attacking Christianity to avoid alienating the German public, maintain political stability, and ensure the loyalty and unity of the SS. While Himmler harbored anti-Christian sentiments and promoted pagan beliefs, he understood the importance of a more subtle, long-term approach to reducing Christianity’s influence in favor of NS ideology.
But were their concerns legitimate?
Were the Christians resisting the NS regime and ideology, and were they discontent?
- Some Catholic leaders, including Pope Pius XI (in the 1937 encyclical Mit brennender Sorge), criticized the NS regime, particularly its racist ideology.
- Bishop Clemens August von Galen delivered powerful sermons in 1941 condemning the NS euthanasia program, which led to a temporary suspension of the program.
- Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a prominent theologian, became an outspoken critic of the National Socialists. He was involved in the Confessing Church and later in a conspiracy to overthrow Hitler. He was arrested in 1943 and executed in 1945.
- Many (about 5000) individual clergy members, both Catholic and Protestant, resisted NS ideology, particularly when it contradicted Christian teachings (and it did). Some provided sanctuary to Jews, while others criticized NS policies publicly, leading to their arrest, imprisonment, or execution.
- The White Rose: This was a student-led resistance group in Munich that included devout Christians, such as siblings Sophie and Hans Scholl. They distributed anti-NS leaflets, advocating for passive resistance against the regime. They were arrested and executed in 1943.
- Claus von Stauffenberg, a devout Catholic, was part of the July 20 Plot (1944) to assassinate Hitler. While his motivation was primarily military and political, his Christian faith informed his moral stance against Hitler’s regime.
- Henning von Tresckow, another Christian officer involved in the July 20 Plot, viewed the overthrow of Hitler as a moral imperative to save Germany from destruction.
They also saw how the Norwegian Church (i. e. 800+ clergymen) had revolted against the NS regime in Norway, in 1942, because the NS ideology crashed with their Christian beliefs, and because the NS regime there tried to replace Christianity with NS ideology. The revolt had been rather effective too, and to a large degree crippled the NS regime in Norway, making it unable to work effectively. The Germans saw the same tendencies in the German Churches, and did not want the same to happen in Germany.
Therefore, they banned criticism of Christianity for some time, thinking it would calm the Christians down a bit, and then…
… they would root out Christianity, and remove it lock, stock, and barrel, after the war had been won.
However, as you know, they lost the war. Therefore that never happened.