One aspect of this undertaking was to promote a resurgence of ancient Norse mythologies. This ancient belief system consisted of a polytheistic myths. The harsh nature of these myths included human sacrifice, vengeance killings, and the relegation of women to an inferior status.
A second aspect of the Nazi effort - remember that ‘Nazi’ means ‘National Socialist’ - was the promotion of atheism. Most Nazi institutions were officially atheist, as were many of the Nazi leaders. (Those Nazi leaders who weren’t atheists engaged in various Wicca activities like Norse mythology and nature worship.)
The third and final aspect of the National Socialist attempt to eliminate religious faith was to infiltrate and subvert existing religious institutions. The people who been members of religious societies or churches for many years didn’t want to quit being a part of those groups.
So the Nazis worked to deceive the members: The church’s building was still open at the same time on Sunday mornings, so people thought they they were “going to church.” But the National Socialists had replaced the decorations inside the church with Nazi banners and swastikas. The person who gave the speech was no longer a Christian minister talking about Jesus, but a Nazi talking about Hitler.
When the National Socialists first seized the government in 1933, they signed a commitment called a ‘concordat’ and they promised to let religious groups have some freedom. But they quickly broke that promise. Published research from the Weiße Rose Stiftung (The White Rose Foundation) reports that
According to the concordat between the Third Reich and the Holy See in 1933, Catholic youth organizations were permitted uniforms, insignia, and banners. Despite that agreement, they were harassed, persecuted and finally outlawed in 1938.
All varieties of Christianity were targeted by the National Socialists: Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, and others. The Nazi’s own youth club swallowed up some of the other youth groups which had existed before 1933.
Young people in these groups discovered that when their local church youth group was blended into the National Socialist Hitlerjugend, the group ceased to be a safe place. These high school students then left, and resisted by forming their own groups.
On December 18, 1933, the Protestant Youth was incorporated into the Nazi State Youth organization.
Christians formed several resistance movements, and these movements worked together. One of them was the Bekennende Kirche (The Confessing Church). The word ‘confessing’ meant that they would confess what they knew to be true, and thereby oppose the National Socialists.
Yet, as soon as they realized that the cross had to be exchanged for the swastika, they founded the ‘Young Reformation Movement.’ It was part of the ‘Bekennende Kirche’ (Confessional Church). It was in this group that Christians who resisted National Socialism united.
The quotes above are taken from a 1991 publication by the Weiße Rose Stiftung, edited by Franz Josef Müller, and including work by Ulrich Chaussy, Christiane Moll, Franz Josef Müller, Britta Müller-Baltschun, and Hans Wrobel.
