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Bishop von Galen: German Catholicism and National Socialism
Clemens August Graf von Galen, Bishop of Munster from 1933 until his death in 1946, is renowned for his opposition to Nazism, most notably for his public preaching in 1941 against Hitler's euthanasia project to rid the country of sick, elderly, mentally retarded, and disabled Germans. This provocative and revisionist biographical study of von Galen views him from a different as a complex figure who moved between dissent and complicity during the Nazi regime, opposing certain elements of National Socialism while choosing to remain silent on issues concerning discrimination, deportation, and the murder of Jews. Beth Griech-Polelle places von Galen in the context of his times, describing how the Catholic Church reacted to various Nazi policies, how the anti-Catholic legislation of the Kulturkampf shaped the repertoire of resistance tactics of northwestern German Catholics, and how theological interpretations were used to justify resistance and/or collaboration. She reveals how the bishop portrayed Jews and what that depiction meant for Jews living in Nazi Germany. Finally she investigates the creation of the image of von Galen as "Grand Churchman-Resister" and discusses the implications of this for the myth of Catholic conservative "resistance" constructed in post-1945 Germany.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published October 11, 2002
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May 14, 2016Bishop Galen of Munster is renowned for his opposition to the Nazis, a distinction thoroughly demolished by this book. He did oppose Hitler's euthanasia program, but as Griech-Polelle points out, this only serves to emphasize his lack of concern for Nazi terror and murder of Jews, when he was fully aware of what was happening.
Bishop Galen was not unlike most other German Bishops, and the Vatican, in his failure to speak out against the persecution, deportation and murder of Jews. What is infuriating was the post-war attempt of the Catholic Church to portray him as an ardent fighter against the Nazis, even to the point of proposing sainthood. Fortunately, Pope John Paul II decided in 1987 that Bishop Galen would not be canonized, and instead named Edith Stein for her courageous witness to the horror of Nazi brutality.
SELECTED EXCERPTS ...
... Galen … renowned for his very public denunciation of euthanasia … was silent concerning the fate of the Jews, even when he had verifiable proof that deportation meant death … similarly, Galen did not protest the April 1933 boycott, the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, the 1938 pogrom, or any other act of violence perpetrated against Jews who had lived in his diocese of Munster since the 12th century
... Galen surely saw the signs outside Munster … Jews are Germany's misfortune … trespassing of this community by Jews is unwanted
... Galen sermon … directly quoted Hitler's words regarding the need to fight the "Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy"
... Galen, in a single sermon, combined the imagery of disorder, Russian terror, heresy, and Jewishness ... thus immunizing Catholics against feeling the need to intervene on behalf of their Jewish neighbors
... the Jewish question was not an immediate concern of the Church, nor was it an immediate concern of the Bishop Galen
Bishop Galen was not unlike most other German Bishops, and the Vatican, in his failure to speak out against the persecution, deportation and murder of Jews. What is infuriating was the post-war attempt of the Catholic Church to portray him as an ardent fighter against the Nazis, even to the point of proposing sainthood. Fortunately, Pope John Paul II decided in 1987 that Bishop Galen would not be canonized, and instead named Edith Stein for her courageous witness to the horror of Nazi brutality.
SELECTED EXCERPTS ...
... Galen … renowned for his very public denunciation of euthanasia … was silent concerning the fate of the Jews, even when he had verifiable proof that deportation meant death … similarly, Galen did not protest the April 1933 boycott, the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, the 1938 pogrom, or any other act of violence perpetrated against Jews who had lived in his diocese of Munster since the 12th century
... Galen surely saw the signs outside Munster … Jews are Germany's misfortune … trespassing of this community by Jews is unwanted
... Galen sermon … directly quoted Hitler's words regarding the need to fight the "Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy"
... Galen, in a single sermon, combined the imagery of disorder, Russian terror, heresy, and Jewishness ... thus immunizing Catholics against feeling the need to intervene on behalf of their Jewish neighbors
... the Jewish question was not an immediate concern of the Church, nor was it an immediate concern of the Bishop Galen
Displaying 1 of 1 review