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On July 30th 1933, Hitler signed the Concordat with the Catholic
Church. He guaranteed the integrity of the Catholic Church and
agreed that it should have its rights and privileges protected. It was
made clear that as long as the Catholic Church kept out of politics it
would not be troubled.
However, the success he achieved with the Catholic Church was not
replicated with the various Protestant denominations in Germany.
They were more concerned about the planned replacement of
normal Christian values with those that included Blut und Boden
(Blood and Soil). In 1934, Professor Ernst Bergmann put forward his
ideas for a new German religion. Bergmann stated that:
1. The Old Testament and many parts of the New Testament were
not suitable for a new Germany.
2. Christ was a Nordic martyr who was put to death by the Jews.
Christ was a warrior whose death rescued the world from Jewish
dominance.
3. Adolf Hitler is the new Messiah sent to earth to save the world
from Jews.
The Concordat signed with the Catholic Church did not last long.
Once Hitler felt entrenched in power, he ordered Joseph Goebbels to
turn the Nazi propaganda machine against the Catholic Church.
Monks and nuns were accused of smuggling gold out of Germany
while priests were accused of immorality. The Archbishop of MunichFreising had to be given diplomatic status by the Papacy to save him
from arrest (he was made a Papal Legate). The concerns in Rome
were such that Pope Pius XI issued With Deep Anxiety. It accused
Hitler of treating Catholics in Germany in an inhumane manner and
breaking the terms of the Concordat.
June 2012