Page 179 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

166 The American Diplomats

Be that as it may, during the four years that dodd served as ambas-
sador in Germany he and his staff in the capital as well as in other cities
focused on the struggles between the Nazis and the recalcitrant evangeli-
cal ministers. their reports could have left no one in doubt that the con-
flict was intense; in early 1934, about fifteen hundred clergymen “openly
disavowed” Müller’s authority by using their pulpits on sundays to read
protests against the administration’s attempts to politicize the church.
the evangelical bishops of Bavaria and Württemberg went so far as to
announce that they would not enforce Müller’s order to pastors to desist
from “public discussions” of church policies. the bishop of Württemberg
also advised his parishioners that if they were forced by officials to choose
between “an evangelical or an aryan faith. . . . ‘Only a firm loyalty to the
heritage received from our fathers can bring welfare and blessing to the
National socialist movement.’” the bishop sought to emphasize that al-
though he did not harbor antinationalist feelings, he would ultimately be
guided “purely” by ecclesiastical considerations. such arguments did not sit
well with the Nazis. Nor did they take kindly to Karl Barth, a prominent
51
professor of theology at Bonn University, when he added the following
words to his oath of unlimited allegiance to Hitler: “in so far as i can con-
scientiously do so as an evangelical Christian.” Barth was immediately re-
52
moved from his post. ambassador dodd also learned that in various parts
of the country Protestant pastors had been arrested for trivial infractions of
government regulations. in one case, a priest was “taken into custody for
having placed a small swastika flag over the entrance of his church on the
anniversary of the Nazi revolution instead of hoisting a large one on the
steeple.” and reich Bishop Müller suspended several pastors because they
had used their pulpits to express opposition to his policies. in the winter
of 1934, the bishop forced Niemöller to take a leave of absence, which ap-
parently meant that he had been deprived of his parish. in some localities,
the Nazis physically attacked clergymen who refused to hew to their line.
“Windows have been broken in the houses of a number of ministers . . .
only several days ago,” dodd reported on January 31, 1934; “the pastor of
the prominent Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche was assaulted in his home by a
group of rowdies.” 53
Nevertheless, the confessional pastors, as the opponents to Bishop Mül-
ler and the Nazi reforms came to be known, publicly continued voicing
their rejection of the changes in doctrine and ritual, and they paid a heavy
penalty for their courageous stand. in mid-March 1935, the american em-