T HE G ERMAN CHURCHES WILLINGLY SUPPORTED THE N AZI REGIME IN THE YEARS Manila, Kamalpreet, Sumerpreet Charlotte and Taebba

C REATE A TABLE AgreeDisagree

W HAT YOU COULD SAY FOR AGREE One-third of Germans were Catholics and two-thirds were Protestants. At the beginning they cooperated with the Nazis. The Nazis believed In constructive Christianity and freedom of every religious denomination (groups) Hitler met the pope in 1935 and he agreed to support the Nazi regime as long as the Nazis didn’t interfere with the Catholic Church. This shows that the Church did support the Nazi regime. In 1936, the Protestant Reich Church was created. This did not have the Christian cross as its symbol but the swastika. Only invited Nazis were allowed to give sermons in a Reich Church. This Church willingly supported the Nazi regime. The Church believed that the new government protected them from communism and maintained traditional morals and family values.

W HAT YOU COULD SAY FOR D ISAGREE The Churches were more often concerned with their own institutions than speaking against the regime. Some religious leaders did speak against Nazism The Nazis saw the church and Christianity as a threat to their policies. In 1933, the Catholic Church had viewed the Nazis as a barrier to the spread of communism from Russia. In this year, Hitler and the Catholic Church signed an agreement that he would not interfere with the Catholic Church while the Church would not comment on politics.

C ONCLUSION – W HAT WE THINK Not all the churches did not willingly support the Nazi regime, the religious leaders spoke out against Nazism. However some Churches such as the protestant Reich Church did support the Nazi regime.

W ORD SEARCH Words: Catholic Protestant Nazi Hitler Church Reich