Twisted Cross: The German Christian Movement in the Third Reich 2nd ed. Edition

by Doris L. Bergen (Author)

8 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0807845608

ISBN-10: 0807845604

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How did Germany's Christians respond to Nazism? In Twisted Cross, Doris Bergen addresses one important element of this response by focusing on the 600,000 self-described 'German Christians,' who sought to expunge all Jewish elements from the Christian church. In a process that became more daring as Nazi plans for genocide unfolded, this group of Protestant lay people and clergy rejected the Old Testament, ousted people defined as non-Aryans from their congregations, denied the Jewish ancestry of Jesus, and removed Hebrew words like 'Hallelujah' from hymns. Bergen refutes the notion that the German Christians were a marginal group and demonstrates that members occupied key positions within the Protestant church even after their agenda was rejected by the Nazi leadership. Extending her analysis into the postwar period, Bergen shows how the German Christians were relatively easily reincorporated into mainstream church life after 1945. Throughout Twisted Cross, Bergen reveals the important role played by women and by the ideology of spiritual motherhood amid the German Christians' glorification of a 'manly' church.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An outstanding, stylish, and timely assessment . . . of the German Christian Movement which tried to fuse Christianity with National Socialism.

"German History""

"Bergen is to be congratulated for this scholarly, well-balanced account.

"Theological Studies""

"This is a disturbing and an important book, highly relevant for many contemporary discussions concerning theology, religion and modern culture.

"Studies in Religion""

Bergen is to be congratulated for this scholarly, well-balanced account.

"Theological Studies"

This is a disturbing and an important book, highly relevant for many contemporary discussions concerning theology, religion and modern culture.

"Studies in Religion"

An outstanding, stylish, and timely assessment . . . of the German Christian Movement which tried to fuse Christianity with National Socialism.

"German History"

A superb book.

"Choice"

Review

Bergen is to be congratulated for this scholarly, well-balanced account of the German Christian movement, which comes as a welcome addition to studies dealing with the Holocaust.--Theological Studies

Doris Bergen has written a fine study of a crucial aspect of Nazi domestic success. Her examination of the German Christian movement is an important corrective to the widespread misunderstandings of the role of the Protestant church that have prevailed among theologians and historians.--Susannah Heschel, Case Western Reserve University

Doris Bergen's account stands as a trenchant warning about the dangers which so easily beset any church that forsakes doctrinal orthodoxy in pursuit of popular political favour, or cultivates nationalist ethnicity at the expense of the Gospel. She is to be congratulated on so vividly depicting this dismal story.--German Studies Review

An outstanding, stylish, and timely assessment . . . of the German Christian Movement which tried to fuse Christianity with National Socialism.--German History

This is a disturbing and an important book, highly relevant for many contemporary discussions concerning theology, religion and modern culture. It vividly illustrates the dangers of completely breaking with tradition and the reason why many people, especially Jewish leaders, are often worried about such things as the so-called 'New Age' movements.--Studies in Religion

Using the primary documents from every major archive in Germany and the available secondary sources, Bergen offers a study that explores how the German Christian Movement tried to synthesize Christianity and National Socialism. . . . A superb book.--Choice

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 358 pages
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press; 2nd ed. edition (March 4, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0807845604
ISBN-13: 978-0807845608
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 8 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #857 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Church & State
- #2132 in Books > History > Europe > Germany
- #2209 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Europe

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Elliott B. Nesch

Excellent book. The German Christian movement parallels the postmodern ...

May 15, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Excellent book. The German Christian movement parallels the postmodern church of our present day. Many of the quotes from German Christian pastors resemble what we are hearing from the Emerging Church today. I especially appreciated the chapter on anti-doctrine. This book is thoroughly researched and worth the read.

5 people found this helpful

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John W. Matthews

Great reading!

April 23, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Doris Bergen is a historian par excellence of this era and the dynamics one needs to understand. Great reading!

2 people found this helpful

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Danie van Zyl

The Untwisting of the Twisted Cross

June 19, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The Twisted Cross corrects the misunderstanding that the German Church was Hitler's theological partner and the Confessing Church the great opponent of Nazi ideology. Doris Bergen's research portrays the church scene under Hitler as complicated and often confused. The Nazi's were very uncomfortable with the German Church and often severely curtailed its work. The Confessing Church often found itself in agreement with the German Church and joined it in some projects. While Bonhoeffer and Barth are usually presented as the true representatives of the Confessing Church's attitude to Nazi ideology, Doris Bergen makes it clear that they were the exceptions rather than the norm.

4 people found this helpful

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exilepst

Okay.

November 8, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Repetitious, but good. I find that the book could have been about a third shorter and it would have been as good. But that is a minor quibble. I found it interesting that involvement in the German Christian Movement was minimized after the war, and that the Movement was tolerated as an odious necessity by the National Socialists. As covering an overlooked area of history, this book is helpful.

2 people found this helpful

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Paul De Winter

Dit boek heb ik nog niet gelezen, daar ik ...

July 28, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Dit boek heb ik nog niet gelezen, daar ik vele boeken bezit over allerlei onderwerpen. Wel heb ik het boek ingezien.De Protestantse Kerk in het
Duitse Reich wou absoluut de Joodse invloed of kennis uit het Oude Testament verwijderen en Jezus Christus absoluut niet zien als een Jood,
maar wel als een Arier. Interessant boek.Een aan te raden boek, historisch en theologisch.

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stillastudent

Great book covering the German Christian movement and its corrupt ...

October 19, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Great book covering the German Christian movement and its corrupt nationalism and complicity and support of the Nazi regime.

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Deborah Mengedoht-Knust

Five Stars

September 29, 2015

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Excellent book

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shemayah phillips

Nazi Christianity

December 19, 2005

Format: Paperback

The two previous reviews may be well-intended, but are not quite accurate from what I read in the book. The book is an excellent indictment of Christian anti-semitism fully realized on a national level, revealing the inherent hatred of Jews so easily supported by the Christian Bible. I highly recommend this book to every Christian as a tool for some soul-searching concerning the true nature of their faith.

The German Christians were not a sect. They were not a separate entity from Christian churches in Germany. It was a movement *within* typical German churches with large numbers of supporters and great influence on all Protestant Christians in Germany.

In Germany at the time, and "In July 1933 Protestant church elections across Germany filled a range of positions from parish representatives to senior consistory councillors. Representatives of the German Christian movement won two thirds of the votes cast. Hitler himself had urged election of German Christians, who, he claimed in a radio address, represented the "new" in the church. Affirmed by the biggest voter turnout ever in a Protestant church election and soon ensconced in the bishops' seats of all but three of Germany's Protestant regional churches, in 1933 the movement seemed unstoppable." (pg. 7)

Protestant refers to Lutheran, Reformed,and united churches in the category of Evangelical churches (not quite the same as used here in the US today).(pg. 5) SO the German Christians were not a relative few, a sect, a cult, or the "not true" Christians but instead a vast number of the Christian population---all devoted to the elimination of Jews from culture, from the nation, and physically from the land of the living. How proud their Aryan Jesus (descended from Viking tribes in Galilee!!!) must be of Christianity in Germany!

This book documents the driving Christian force in Christian churches of Nazi Germany, and exposes the complicity of Christianity in the Holocaust. The everyday Germans did not sanctimoniously sit in the pews unaware of what was going on in the streets, ghettoes and camps. Jew hatred was a national endeavor taught from the pulpits, the teacher's lectern, and recited by the children of that Christian nation. Christians made up the armies, execution squads, and camp staffs who murdered men, women, children, and infants for their Nazi Christ and fatherland.

This book also reveals some of the religio-social mechanics that allow such failures in humanity. It can happen here.

Jesus taught repentence. Admission of guilt precedes correction and rejection of sin and evil. Christian? Read this book and start the process.

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