Reviews for Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism: Religious Identity and National Socialism

The average rating for Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism: Religious Identity and National Socialism based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-03-10 00:00:00 Stephanie Ouzts Hastings makes a persuasive case that the early Nazi movement (1919-1923) was influenced by a fringe group of ultranationalist and anti-Semitic Catholics who advocated for "Positive Christianity". Many of these radicals were active in denouncing ultramontanism (papal supremacy over politics) in pre-1918 Bavaria. One example in particular, Leo Schronghamer, went so far as to suggest replacing the Old Testament with the Viking Sagas, in order to reject the Jewish influence of the former. Hitler's political mentor, Dietrich Eckart, and Heinrich Himmler also fit well into this group. When the Nazis were criticized by a mainstream Catholic politician for their anti-semitism in 1922, Hitler proclaimed that "Christian sentiment points me toward my Lord and Savior as a warrior. It points me to the man who at one time, lonely and surrounded only by a few followers, recognized the Jews and called for battle against them..." Despite this early affinity between Positive Christianity and National Socialism, things started to go sour in 1923. Hitler joined the party to the Kampfbund, which was also nationalist and anti-semitic, but anti-catholic as well. Once the Beer Hall Putsch failed, the Nazi party went into disarray, and the anti-catholic general Ludendorff became a figure of greater prominence. This was a sign to many that Catholics were no longer welcome. When the ban on the Nazi party was lifted in 1925, it was rebuilt into a more anti-clerical movement. Hastings traces this shift to anti-clericalism in some interesting ways. In 1923 a German saboteur named Leo Schlageter was executed by the French Army in the Ruhr for trying to blow up a railroad track. The Nazis immediately turned him into a martyr and capitalized on his Catholicism and his party membership. They particularly emphasized his request for communion and confession before his execution, which was granted but hurried along by the French. By the time the Nazi regime came to power, Schlageter was still commemorated, but only as a nationalist hero, and no longer in a religious context. Some of the early advocates for positive Christianity, like Alban Schachleiter, tried to rebuild the connection between the movements once Hitler came to power in 1933. Schachleiter was allowed to attend the Nuremberg party rally in 1934, but his efforts proved to be in vain. He tried to convince Hitler to disavow Alfred Rosenberg's anti-clerical Nazi manifesto "Myth of the 20th Century" to no avail. The book concludes with a persuasive argument for labeling the Positive Christianity movement "Catholic" even though it was criticized by the mainstream church as a kind of heresy dabbling offshoot. If the church is not exactly a monolith, even though it may appear to be, this argues for including dissenting groups under the Catholic label. Although this is a very interesting and subtle book, it fails to really demonstrate the significance of this early influence on the Nazi Party. Hastings makes some intriguing statements about the Nazis borrowing from the Catholic liturgy for their public ceremonies, but leaves this idea largely undeveloped. In view of the party's later anti-clericalism, it doesn't seem like much influence was really preserved after 1923. It also seems fair to point out that a Catholic inclusive attitude was probably the only viable option for a new political party in 1919 Bavaria, despite whatever anti-clerical prejudices some of the Nazis held behind closed doors.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-04-11 00:00:00 Craig Rittenhouse Excellent study! A needed close examination of the Catholic role in the early Nazi movement. Very few authors have given this much examination to the Catholic community of this time. An impressive work.