Martin Luther: Hitler's Spiritual Ancestor

by Peter F. Wiener

A foreword by Frank R. Zindler describes the relations of the never-excommunicated Catholic Adolf Hitler with two popes and his comment that "Luther, if he could be with us, would give us his blessing." A reprint of a book written during the last months of the war in Europe, the book discusses Luther the man, his unstable character, his often treacherous actions, his views and teachings on marriage, truth, the state, war, the Jews, the peasants, and Germany. The growth of the unrealistic, positive legend of Luther is examined, with a concluding essay "From Luther to Hitler."

110 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book with a provocative title, "Martin Luther: Hitler's Spiritual Ancestor" does a pretty good job of shattering the myth of Martin Luther as a champion of "religious freedom." Based entirely on Martin Luther's own letters and table talks, Peter Wiener demonstrates that Luther was a foul-mouthed, degenerate, irrational, vicious, neurotic, and amoral pig. Whether it was his tirades against human reason, his sanctioning of Philip of Hesse's bigamy, his outright blasphemies against God, his condemnation of marriage as inherently sinful, his call to massacre the German peasants or Jews without mercy, or his pornographic table talks, no one can finish this short book without concluding that Martin Luther was one of the worst men who ever lived. Hardly a "reformer."

Where this book comes up short is proving that Luther did indeed lead to Hitler. I personally believe that he did. Luther preached extreme German nationalism. He even said that God was German. He called for the extermination of the Jews and absolute, unquestioning obedience to the state. Lutheranism was one of the first revolutionary totalitarian movements in the modern sense. In many ways, Lutheranism foreshadowed the French Revolution, Communism, and Nazism.

However, Wiener does not demonstrate this very clearly. He basically says that since Luther and Hitler shared many common ideas, one led to the other. This isn't a very secure argument. Many German Lutherans supported Hitler, but many did not. I believe that this link could be proved in a more in-depth work, but 102 pages aren't enough. Even the author admits that he isn't really proving the connection, just showing many similarities. Nevertheless, it is a good Cliffs Notes version for why Luther (and therefore Lutheranism) was evil from the beginning.