(85) Tue 14 Oct 97 7:37 By: Curtis Johnson To: John Jancewicz Re: Hitler Christian? [1/7] St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @EID:dbc6 234e3ca0 @PID: BWMAX2 3.20 [Reg] @MSGID: 1:261/1000.0 34445f61 >>> Part 1 of 7... Although I shouldn't have to, to avoid any misunderstanding I probably should point out that in no way do I support Hitler, his goals, or his methods. In fact, by demonizing him we can fall into a "It can't happen here" attitude which prevents us from making sure that it won't happen here. Fascism here would wear an American face. John, recall that the question was whether *Hitler* was a Christian. Your nine-part post contained very little that directly bore on this question; indeed, as I'll point out, some mentions do do tend to support the proposition that he was. It also remains to be established how aware or whether he approved of such comments as Bormann's below. Church-State relations have had a long and interesting history. One of the more instructive patterns is that when there is not separation of church and state and religious tolerance, questions of power come to the fore. In short, one cannot use actions taken by previous Christian rulers as an argument that another ruler taking the same actions was not a Christian. If Hitler was anything, he was a German hyper-nationalist. As such, he would surely be aware of the struggles between Empire and Pope, and would have sympathized with the former--but recall those Emperors were Christian, Catholic rulers. He would have strongly deplored the religious factionalism that produced the Thirty Years' War. He would also recall Bismarck's _culturekampf_. He would also be unlikely to forget that a monastery had cached the rifles for his Beer Hall Putsch, and would take steps to ensure that nothing like that could happen to him. I don't think anyone is arguing that Hitler and the Nazis were not attempting to establish total political control over the denominations in Germany--but that is not the same as not being a Christian. Christian rulers have always wanted the churches within their territories to be as supportive as possible of their regime. In fact, prior to the unification of Germany in 1870, the Protestant princes were _ipso facto_ head of the church within their territories. The Nazis sought control over *any* organization. That they would turn, say, a chess club into an organ of the Third Reich hardly means that they were against chess. DDDDDDDDDDDDD Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression Volume I, Chapter VII Means Used by the Nazi Conspiractors in Gaining Control of the German State This repeated title goes to the heart of the issue. Gaining control of the State is not an anti-Christian activity. Even preventing Christian control of the State hardly means that one is not a Christian. With the help of their Reich Bishop, Bishop Mueller, they maneuvered the Evangelical Youth Association into the Hitler Jugend under Von Schirach in December 1933. (1458-PS) Incorporation is not the same as outlawing. They arrested prominent Protestant leaders such as Pastor Niemoeller. By 1937, the result of all these measures was complete administrative control by the Nazi conspirators over the Evangelical churches. Christian monarchs have long sought (and sometimes enjoyed) administrative control over churches in their territory. activities. On 20 July 1933, a Concordat was concluded between the Holy See and the German Reich, signed for the Reich by Von Papen Who negotiated it and who was, if you recall, former head of the Center Party--and who was tried at Nuremburg. By Article I of the Concordat, "The German Reich guarantees freedom of profession and public practice of the Catholic religion. Did they ever prevent anyone from professing that they were a Catholic? "It acknowledges the right of the Catholic Church, within the limit of those laws which are applicable to all, to manage and regulate her own affairs independently, and, within the framework of her own competence, to publish laws and ordinances binding on her members." (3280-A-PS) It would seem that the Nazis and the Church may have had differences of interpretation about who was to decide what was "within the framework of her own competence." But that would not of itself be a violation of the treaty, it would seem to me. Of course, the Church probably didn't have an idea of >>> Continued to next message... --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] * Origin: Nerve Center - Where the spine is misaligned! (1:261/1000) SEEN-BY: 12/12 112/4 218/890 1001 270/101 353/250 396/1 3615/50 51 SEEN-BY: 3804/180 @PATH: 261/1000 1137 270/101 396/1 3615/50 218/1001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (86) Tue 14 Oct 97 7:37 By: Curtis Johnson To: John Jancewicz Re: Hitler Christian? [2/7] St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @EID:9fc6 234e3ca0 @PID: BWMAX2 3.20 [Reg] @MSGID: 1:261/1000.0 34445f62 >>> Part 2 of 7... what would be those "laws which are applicable to all," else it might not have supported Hitler's rise to power so much. But giving the RCC a special exemption from those laws is not a violationof the concordat. Other articles formulated agreements on basic principles such as free communication between Rome and the local ecclesiastical authorities, freedom of the Catholic press, of Catholic education and of Catholic action in charitable, professional, and youth Presumably subject to the same "laws applicable to all." organizations. In return, the Vatican pledged loyalty by the clergy to the Reich Government and emphasis in religious instruction on the patriotic duties of the Christian citizen. (3280-A-PS) Center Party, under a combination of Nazi pressure and assurances, published on 29 December 1933, an announcement of its dissolution Do you remember assuring me that it had done no such thing? Bear in mind that the existence of the Center Party meant that the RCC had long dedicated itself to meddling in German politics. In fact, it had been doing so for over a millenium. In the Encyclical "Mt Brenneder Sorge", on 14 March 1937, Pope Pius XI described the program: "It discloses intrigues which from the beginning had no other aim than a war of extermination. In the furrows in which we had labored to sow the seeds of true peace, others like the enemy in Holy Scripture (Matt. xiii, 25) sowed means. On them and on them alone and on their silent and vocal protectors rests the responsibility that now on the horizon of Germany there is to be seen not the rainbow of peace but the threatening storm clouds of destructive religious wars. *** In other words, a veiled call to Catholics to start thinking about armed rebellion. Germans *knew* what a religious war brings. I bet that and being compared to Satan reassured Nazis that they had nothing to fear from the Catholic hierarchy! unwritten law of the other party has been arbitrary misinterpretation of agreements, evasion of agreements, evacuation of the meaning of agreements, and finally more or less open violation of agreements." (3280-PS) As if the papacy has always been a Boy Scout in its diplomatic dealings. The Nazis suppressed the Catholic Youth League, beginning ten days after the concordat was signed. (See Section 8, infra.) Hearing that veiled call for armed rebellion I'm sure made the Nazis just weep that they'd disbanded the groupings of young men that would have been available for that rebellion. On 18 January 1942, in declining to accede to a demand made by the German Government that no further appointment of Archbishops, Bishops, and other high administrative dignitaries be made in the new territories of the Reich, or of certain of them within the old Reich, without previous consultation with the German Government This was something every Catholic monarch sought, and frequently enjoyed. "Let it suffice to recall in this connection, among other things, the changing of the Catholic State elementary schools into undenominational schools; the permanent or temporary closing of many minor seminaries, of not a few major seminaries and of some theological faculties; the suppression of almost all the private schools and of numerous Catholic boarding schools and colleges; the repudiation, decided This was part of Bismarck's _kulturekampf_. and above all the suppression of Abbeys, monasteries, convents and religious houses in such great numbers that one is led to infer a deliberate intention of rendering impossible the very existence of the Orders and Congregations in Germany. Even Catholic monarchs have done the same, not to mention Protestant ones. "(c) Protestant Churches. "The Protestant Churches were deprived of the freedom to preach the gospel. German secret state police watched closely whether the clergy observed the restrictions imposed on it. *** Some passages from the Bible were not allowed to be read in public at all.*** >>> Continued to next message... --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] * Origin: Nerve Center - Where the spine is misaligned! (1:261/1000) SEEN-BY: 12/12 112/4 218/890 1001 270/101 353/250 396/1 3615/50 51 SEEN-BY: 3804/180 @PATH: 261/1000 1137 270/101 396/1 3615/50 218/1001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (87) Tue 14 Oct 97 7:37 By: Curtis Johnson To: John Jancewicz Re: Hitler Christian? [3/7] St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @EID:63c7 234e3ca0 @PID: BWMAX2 3.20 [Reg] @MSGID: 1:261/1000.0 34445f63 >>> Part 3 of 7... Uh, John, remember the RCC in the past prohibiting the publication of the Bible in the vernacular? "The leading Theological School for all Evangelical denominations, HUS Faculty in Prague and all other Protestant training schools for the ministry were closed down in November 1939, with the other Czech universities and colleges. It would seem here that "with the other Czech universities and colleges," that the move was to close Czech universities and colleges, period. "(d) Czech Orthodox Church. "The hardest blow was directed against the Czech Orthodox Church. The Orthodox churches in Czechoslovakia were ordered by the Berlin Ministry of Church Affairs to leave the Pontificate of Belgrade and Constantinople respectively and to become subordinate to the Berlin Bishop. The Czech Bishop Administrative control. It might be useful to remember that Germany was at war with the major Orthodox countries. "All Evangelical education was handed over to the civil authorities and many Evangelical teachers lost their employment; moreover the State grant to salaries of many evangelical priests was taken away." (998-PS) To American ears, it certainly is strange to hear that the taking away of government salaries from preachers is persecution. Also note that by the usage of "many" instead of "all," it would seem that many other "evangelical priests" continued to be paid by the government. Vatican, on 8 October 1942, addressed a memorandum to the German even sadder and more tragic." This memorandum states: "For quite a long time the religious situation in the Warthegau gives cause for very grave and ever increasing anxiety. There, in fact, the Episcopate has been little by little almost completely eliminated; the secular and regular Catholic intellectual and charitable institutions have been destroyed; ecclesiastical property has been seized." (3263-PS) IOW, the Polish Church was not exempt from the general situation of the Polish people. Very recent history has shown that the Polish RCC is intimately linked with Polish nationalism. (1) They sought to eliminate the Christian Churches in Germany. (a) Statements of this aim. Martin Bormann stated in a secret decree of the Party Chancellery signed by him and distributed to all Gauleiters 7 June 1941: "Our National Socialist ideology is far loftier than the con- cepts of Christianity, which in their essential points have been taken over from Jewry ***. A differentiation between the various Christian confessions is not to be made here *** the Evangelical Church is just as inimical to us as the Catholic This thoroughly demonstrates Bormann's famous hero-worship. Church. *** All influences which might impair or damage the leadership of the people exercised by the Fuehrer with the help of the NSDAP must be eliminated. More and more the people must be separated from the churches and their organs the On other words, from the *organization.* Looks like he remembered the Pope's veiled call to think of armed revolt. pastors. *** Just as the deleterious influences of astrologers, seers and other fakers are eliminated and suppressed by the State, so must the possibility of church influence also be totally removed. *** Not until this has Interestingly, this didn't happen with astrologers. Instead, they were put under state control. Throughout the war, newspapers ran up-beat horoscopes as a means of keeping up civilian morale. This brings up another point: The Third Reich was not a monolith, and even within the Party a coherent ideology was never worked out. Pagan loons and Calvinist loons were united only by their German hyper-nationalism. A similar schizophrenia prevailed in regard to the "socialism" of National Socialism. Hans Kerrl, Reich Minister for Church Affairs, in a letter dated 6 September 1939 to a Herr Stapel, which indicated that it would be >>> Continued to next message... --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] * Origin: Nerve Center - Where the spine is misaligned! (1:261/1000) SEEN-BY: 12/12 112/4 218/890 1001 270/101 353/250 396/1 3615/50 51 SEEN-BY: 3804/180 @PATH: 261/1000 1137 270/101 396/1 3615/50 218/1001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (88) Tue 14 Oct 97 7:37 By: Curtis Johnson To: John Jancewicz Re: Hitler Christian? [4/7] St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @EID:17c6 234e3ca0 @PID: BWMAX2 3.20 [Reg] @MSGID: 1:261/1000.0 34445f64 >>> Part 4 of 7... "The Fuehrer considers his efforts to bring the Evangelical Church to reason, unsuccessful and the Evangelical Church with respect to its condition rightfully a useless pile of sects. As you emphasize the Party has previously carried on not only a fight against the political element of the Christianity of the Church, but also a fight against membership of Party Members in a Christian confession.*** Note the "political element." And as the party plank you give below states, the Party was above any one denomination. Hypernationalists, the Nazis did want their members part of the sectarian divisions that had proven so fatal to German nationhood. Gauleiter Florian, in a letter dated 23 September 1940 to the defendant Hess, stated: "The churches with their Christianity are the danger against which to fight is absolutely necessary." (064-PS) Regierungsrat Roth, in a lecture 22 September 1941, to a group of Security Police, in the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA) concluded his address on Security Police (Sipo) measures for combatting church politics and sects with the following remarks: "The immediate aim: the church must not regain one inch of the ground it has lost. The ultimate aim: Destruction of the Confessional Churches to be brought about by the collection of all material obtained through the intelligence service (Nachrihtendienst) activities which will at a given time be produced as evidence for the charge of treasonable activities during the German fight for existence." (1815-PS) The Confessinal Church was Niemoller's creation, which claimed to be the *only* Protestant church. The other Protestant pastors were swearing oaths of personal allegience to Adolf Hitler. FWIW, Niemoller had welcomed Hitler's accession to the chancellorship. The Party Organization Book states: "He openly and unrelentingly fights the most dangerous enemies of the State; Jews, Free Masons, Jesuits, and political clergymen. Catholic States led in the suppression of Jesuits. And note: not clergymen in general, but "political clergymen." (b) The Nazi conspirators promoted beliefs and practices incompatible with Christian teachings. The 24th point of the Program of the NSDAP, unchanged since its adoption in 1920, is as follows: "We demand freedom of religion for all religious denominations within the state so long as they do not endanger its existence or oppose the moral senses of the germanic race. The Party as such advocates the standpoint of a positive Christianity without binding itself confessionally to any one denomination. It combats the Jewish materialistic spirit within and around us, and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our nation can only succeed from within on the framework: common utility precedes individual utility." (1708-PS) Do you realize you just shot yourself in the foot with this quote? In official correspondence with the defendant Rosenberg in 1040, Bormann stated: "Christian religion and National Socialist doctrines are not compatible. * * * The churches cannot be subjugated through compromise, only through a new philosophy as prophesied in osenberg's works." He then proposed creation of a National Socialist Catechism to provide a "moral foundation" for a National Socialist religion which is gradually to supplant the Christian churches. He stated the matter was so important it should be discussed with members of the Reich Cabinet as soon as possible and requested Rosenberg's opinion before the meeting. (098-PS) And just what was the decision of the meeting? Was it even placed on the agenda? Rosenberg in his book "The Myth of the 20th Century" advocated a new National Socialist faith or religion to replace the Christian confessions in Germany. He stated that the Catholic and Protestant churches represent "negative Christianity" and do not correspond to the soul of the "Nordic racially determined peoples"; that a German religious movement would have to declare that the idea of neighborly love is unconditionally subordinated to national honor; that national honor is the highest human value and does not admit >>> Continued to next message... --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] * Origin: Nerve Center - Where the spine is misaligned! (1:261/1000) SEEN-BY: 12/12 112/4 218/890 1001 270/101 353/250 396/1 3615/50 51 SEEN-BY: 3804/180 @PATH: 261/1000 1137 270/101 396/1 3615/50 218/1001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (89) Tue 14 Oct 97 7:37 By: Curtis Johnson To: John Jancewicz Re: Hitler Christian? [5/7] St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @EID:ebc7 234e3ca0 @PID: BWMAX2 3.20 [Reg] @MSGID: 1:261/1000.0 34445f65 >>> Part 5 of 7... of any equal valued force such as Christian love. He predicted: "A German religion will, bit by bit, present in the churches transferred to it, in place of the crucifixion the spirit of fire the heroicin the highest sense." (2349-PS) This sounds just like the nationalist Christianity that seems to end up being practiced by any Christian nation when it goes to war. Yeah, I know Rosenberg was a "pagan." What do you want, Hitler to fire him in a fit of religious discrimination? The Reich Labor Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst), a National Socialist youth organization, was prohibited from participating in religious celebrations of any kind, and its members were instructed to attend only the parts of such ceremonies as weddings and funerals which took place before or after the church celebration. (107-PS) The Nazi conspirators considered religious literature undesirable for the Wehrmacht. National Socialist publications were prepared Nonetheless, clergy were blessing war equipment before they went into action. The Nazi conspirators through Rosenberg's Office for Supervision of the Ideological Training and Education of the NSDAP and the Office of the Deputy of the Fuehrer "induced" the substitution of National Socialist mottoes and services for religious prayers and services in the schools of Germany. (070-PS) Analogy: the Pledge of Allegience replacing school prayer. On 14 July 1939, Bormann, as Deputy of the Fuehrer, issued a Party regulation excluding clergymen, persons closely connected with the church, and Theology students from membership in the Party. It was further decreed that in the future Party Members who entered the clergy or turned to the study of Theology must leave the Party. When the Party follows the same action as the RCC did earlier, it now becomes religious persecution? (c) The Nazi conspirators persecuted priests, clergy and members of monastic orders. The priests and clergy of Germany were subjected by the police to systematic espionage into their daily investigate the churches and maintain constant surveillance upon the public and private lives of the clergy. (1815-PS) Sounds like the Inquisition. greatest importance was to be attached to church political activity. The intelligence network in this field, he continued, was to be fostered with the greatest of care and enlarged with the recruitment of informants, particular value being attached to Again, note the *political*. BTW, in the Vietnam Era, US Churches were also having intelligence gathered on them. "It has been demonstrated that it is impracticable to deal with political offenses (malicious) under normal legal procedure. Owing to the lack of political perception which Again, note the *political.* On the death of von Hindenburg, the Reich Government ordered the ringing of all church bells on 2 August 1934, 3 August 1934 and 4 August 1934. In Bavaria, there were many instances of failure to comply with this order. The Bavarian police submitted a report Isn't it customary to toll the death of a prominent person? After Hitler's rise to power, Bishop Sproll of Rottenburg delivered a series of sermons regarded by the Nazis as damaging, and on 10 April 1938 he refrained from voting in the plebiscite. For this, the Reich Governor of Wuertemberg declared he would no longer regard Bishop Sproll as head of the Diocese of Rottenburg; made an official request that he leave the Gau; and declared he would see to it that all personal and official intercourse between the Bishop and the State and Party offices as well as the Armed Forces would be denied (849-PS). For his alleged failure to vote in the An obvious *political* action. Many Catholic monarchs would have sacked him on the spot. On or about 3 December 1941, a copy of a secret decree of the Party Chancellery on the subject of Relationship of National Socialism to Christianity was found by the Security Police in the possession of Protestant Priest Eichholz at Aix-la-Chapelle. For this he was arrested and held for questioning for an unknown period of time. >>> Continued to next message... --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] * Origin: Nerve Center - Where the spine is misaligned! (1:261/1000) SEEN-BY: 12/12 112/4 218/890 1001 270/101 353/250 396/1 3615/50 51 SEEN-BY: 3804/180 @PATH: 261/1000 1137 270/101 396/1 3615/50 218/1001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (90) Tue 14 Oct 97 7:37 By: Curtis Johnson To: John Jancewicz Re: Hitler Christian? [6/7] St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @EID:afc7 234e3ca0 @PID: BWMAX2 3.20 [Reg] @MSGID: 1:261/1000.0 34445f66 >>> Part 6 of 7... Possession of classified documents is a crime, of course. What would have happened to one of the Berrigan brothers in a similar situation? (d) The Nazi conspirators confiscated church property. On 20 As did even Catholic monarchs at times. The reasons for the dissolution and confiscation were that the Guild of the Virgin Mary had occupied itself for years "to a most far-reaching degree" with arrangements of a "worldly and popular sporting character" such as community games and "social evenings"; and further that the president of the society supplied the members with "seditious materials" which served for "seditious discussions"; and that the members of the Guild were trained and mobilized for "political and seditious tasks." (1481- PS) Note the political angle again. In a letter of 19 April 1941, Bormann advised Rosenberg that libraries and art objects of the monasteries confiscated in the Reich were to remain for the time being in these monasteries and that the Fuehrer had repeatedly rejected the suggestion that centralization of all such libraries be undertaken. (072-PS) This sounds as if Hitler contemplated a return of the monasteries after the war. (e) The Nazi conspirators suppressed religious publications. On 6 November 1934, Frick, as Reich and Prussian Minister of the Interior, issued an order forbidding until further notice publication of all announcements in the daily press, in pamphlets and other publications, which dealt with the Evangelical Church; with the exception of official announcements of the Church Government of the Reich. (1498-PS) This was exactly the month and province in which Niemoller was setting up his church. In January 1940, Bormann informed Rosenberg that he had sought to restrict production of religious publications by means of having their rations of printing paper cut down through the control exercised by Reichsleiter Amann, but that the result of these efforts remained unsatisfactory. (101-PS) Modern wars always produce a paper shortage. In April 1940, Bormann informed the High Command of the Navy that use of the term "Divine Service" to refer exclusively to the services arranged by Christian Confessions was no longer to be "In the opinion of the Party the term 'Church Service' cannot be objected to. I consider it fitting since it properly implies meetings arranged and organized by the Churches." This is an instance of persecution? "Denominational youth and professional organizations as well as those created for special occasions only are prohibited from every public activity outside the church and religious sphere. "Especially forbidden is: Any public appearance in groups, all sorts of political activity. Any public sport function including public hikes and establishment of holiday or outdoor camps. The public display or showing of flags, banners, pennants or the open wearing of uniforms or insignia." (R-145) There is still a similar law in Mexico. On 20 July 1935, Frick, as Reich and Prussian Minister of the Interior, issued secret instructions to the provincial governments and to the Prussian Gestapo that Confessional youth organizations were to be forbidden to wear uniforms, or uniform- like clothing, to assemble publicly with pennants and flags, to wear insignia as a substitute for uniforms, or to engage in any outdoor sport activity. Niemoller's outfit again. Note that the prohibited activities all have a quasi-military air about them. Security Service church intelligence investigators in Berlin, on 22 September 1941: "Retreats, recreational organizations, etc., may now be forbidden on ground of industrial war-needs, whereas formerly only a worldly activity could be given as a basis. "Youth camps, recreational camps are to be forbidden on principle, church organizations in the evening may be pre vented on grounds of the blackout regulations. "Processions, pilgrimages abroad are to be forbidden by reason >>> Continued to next message... --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] * Origin: Nerve Center - Where the spine is misaligned! (1:261/1000) SEEN-BY: 12/12 112/4 218/890 1001 270/101 353/250 396/1 3615/50 51 SEEN-BY: 3804/180 @PATH: 261/1000 1137 270/101 396/1 3615/50 218/1001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (91) Tue 14 Oct 97 7:37 By: Curtis Johnson To: John Jancewicz Re: Hitler Christian? [7/7] St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @EID:53c6 234e3ca0 @PID: BWMAX2 3.20 [Reg] @MSGID: 1:261/1000.0 34445f67 >>> Part 7 of 7... of the over-burdened transport conditions. For local events too technical traffic troubles and the danger of air attack may serve as grounds for their prohibition. (One Referent forbade a procession, on the grounds of it wearing out shoe leather)." (1815-PS) Looks like total war conditions to me. To establish this being anti-church (as opposed to merely not exempting churches), you'd have to establish that it applied only to churches alone. (g) The Nazi conspirators suppressed religious education. In a This was a goal of Bismarck's _kulturkampf_, insofar as private primary and secondary education was concerned. In a secret decree of the Party Chancellery, signed by Bormann, and distributed to all Gauleiters on 7 June 1941, the following statement concerning religious education was made: "No human being would know anything of Christianity if it had not been drilled into him in his childhood by pastors. The so- called dear God in no wise gives knowledge of his existence to young people in advance, but in an astonishing manner in spite of his omnipotence leaves this to the efforts of the pastors. If therefore in the future our youth learns nothing more of this Christianity, whose doctrines are far below ours, Christianity will disappear by itself." (D-75) This isolated paragraph does not tell us what the decree was about. the Nazi conspirators resorted to assurances of peaceful intentions. Thus Hitler, in his address to the Reichstag on 23 March 1933 declared: "While the government is determined to carry through the political and moral purging of our public life, it is creating and insuring prerequisites for a truly religious life. The government sees in both Christian confessions the factors most important for the maintenance of our Folkdom. It will respect agreements concluded between them and the states. However, it expects that its work will meet with a similar appreciation. The government will treat all other denominations with equal objective justice. However, it can never condone that belonging to a certain denomination or to a certain race might be regarded as a license to commit or tolerate crimes. The Government will devote its care to the sincere living together of Church and State." (3387-PS) Church and State lived together and sincerely when the German princes were heads of the church in their own territory. 11. The general situation of the clergy in the Archdiocese of Poznan in the beginning of April 1940 is summarized in the following words of Cardinal Hlond's second report: Hell, even Catholic monarchs have killed priests, sacked Rome and imprisoned the pope in these church-state power struggles. Thus, the Nazi conspirators acclaimed the "master race" doctrine as a new religion -- the faith of the blood -- superseding in individual allegiance all other religions and institutions. According to Rosenberg: "The new thought puts folk and race higher than the state and its forms. It declares protection of the folk more important than protection of a religious denomination, a class, the monarchy, or the republic; it sees in treason against the folk a greater crime than treason against the state." Odd--if it were phrased "people are more important than institutions," it would meet with a lot of agreement. The difference, of course, is that Rosenberg was raving about *a* people. speech concluding the Reichsparteitag at Nurnberg on 3 September 1933 Hitler said: The wild mustang does not take upon itself the yoke imposed by man either voluntarily or joyfully; neither does one people welcome the violence of another." (2584-PS) Which was why the Third Reich (thankfully) went down in flames. --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] * Origin: Nerve Center - Where the spine is misaligned! (1:261/1000) SEEN-BY: 12/12 112/4 218/890 1001 270/101 353/250 396/1 3615/50 51 SEEN-BY: 3804/180 @PATH: 261/1000 1137 270/101 396/1 3615/50 218/1001