Religions of the Volksgemeinschaft: How Three Christian Churches were similar in their Interpretations
Abstract:
Both religious institutions and national governments have shaped how people have lived in different eras. This essay focuses on how three Christian religious institutions/churches reacted towards the National Socialists’ concept of the German Volksgemeinschaft between the 1930s and 1940s. This essay focuses on the German branches of the Roman Catholic church, the Protestant Church, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses both before and during the Nazi regime. These three churches will be examined on how their members supported, resisted, and even tried to make compromises towards the concept and ideals of the Volksgemeinschaft. By examining the aspects of all three of these Christian churches, this essay will argue that all three denominations shared a similarity with one another by the fact that their different versions and individual interpretations of Christian ideology and doctrine greatly impacted their ability, and the strength of that ability, to either take part in promotion or resistance towards the National Socialists’ Volksgemeinschaft.