What were the relations between the Nazis and religious groups? -Sid Samtaney 

1. What were the relations between the Nazis and religious groups? -Sid Samtaney

2. Overview/Introduction • Nazi relationship with Protestants • Nazi relationship with Catholics • The Jewish religion and Nazism. • Christianity and Anti-Semitism Outline

3. Comparing Nazism to a religion is like comparing two religions, because Nazism itself is sort of like a political religion. • At this point in time the Christian religion was mainly split between Catholics and protestants. • 54% of Germans were protestant. 40% of Germans were Catholic. 3.5 % were simply believers in God. 1.5% of the German people were non-believers. • This organized religion took place between 1933-1945. Introduction

4. Martin Luther was a prominent protestant figure of his day who helped Hitler to glorify Nazism. • Luther's protestant writings were used by German leaders such as Hitler to promote nationalism. • Hitler claimed that the Nazi spirit was based on Luther’s ideas. • Luther’s Birthday was celebrated on a large scale from the Nazi party. This shows us the importance of the protestant religion to the Nazis. • Some protestant organizations were opposed to Nazism. • The majority of Hitler’s votes were from Protestants rather than Catholics. The Nazis and the Protestants

5. The Nazis had a diverse view of the Catholic religion. This view ranged from tolerance to extreme opposition. • One position is that the Church and fascism could never have a lasting connection because both are a "holistic Weltanschauung" claiming the whole of the person. • Before Hitler came into power, catholic priests and leaders viciously opposed Nazism because it was “incompetent” with Christian morals. • After Hitler came to power the Catholics looked for opportunities to work with the Nazis hoping to benefit Germany with Nationalism once again. The Nazis and the Catholics

6. Many Nazis promoted “positive Christianity” which emphasized that Christ was a fighter and an anti-Semite who strongly opposed Judaism in his day. • Nazis felt as though the Jewish people were inferior to their Arian race. • Jews were not treated equally at this time period. Jewish people were compared to animals and viewed as filthy people. Propaganda portraying false scientific information would state that the brain size of a Jew is smaller than those of the Arians. The Jewish religion and Nazism.

7. Luther (protestant leader) wrote a book called “On The Jews And Their Lies.” This novel influenced many people to loath Jews. • Anti-Jewish Novels were beginning to show everywhere during German nationalism. • Christians were viewed with more respect than Jewish people. Christianity and anti-Semitism