us_ch8_webquest-axis-bonhoeffer

=**Did anyone speak out against Hitler?**=

There was a German Lutheran minister who became a martyr in Germany during the World War II era named **Dietrich Bonhoeffer**. He tried to wake up Germany and warned people about Hitler before Hitler had become too powerful. He would end up being tortured by the Nazis and executed.

He spoke in the churches urging the people to stand up against Hitler. Bonhoeffer studies at Berlin University, which at the time was the best place to study theology (religion). In his day, Germans weren't exactly sure what they believed in, but rather just went through the motions of church. Bonhoeffer wanted to show the German people the relevance of God in everyones' lives.

Hitler used Christianity in his early speeches because he wanted to sell himself to the German people. Hitler would've been rejected by the people if he showed his bitterness towards Christianity. Bonhoeffer was against Hitler from the start. When Hitler became chancellor in 1933, two days later Bonhoeffer gave a radio speech that ripped Hitler apart. He was one of the few leaders who understand the need to stand up to the Nazis. Hitler was setting up the Nazi Reich Church that preached Nazi beliefs, while the true Christian church leaders were sent to concentration camps.

When Bonhoeffer visited the U.S. he says African-Americans in Harlem (one of the worst hit areas from the depression) worshipping Jesus and singing praises, not just going through the motions like the German churches. This inspired Bonhoeffer and he went back to Germany to preach to the people that everyone could have a personal relationship with God.

Back in Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer worked to smuggle Jews out of the country. He also became a spy and conspired with others against the Nazis. He was arrested by the Gestapo and put in prison. While in prison he wrote a letter to a friend wondering how the Church could allow a man like Hitler to gain power. The answer is because the Germans were going through the motions of church rather than having a personal relationship with God...Bonhoeffer called what was happening in Nazi Germany religionless Christianity.


 * Question to Answer: Why is Bonhoeffer and patriot in history and what lesson should we all learn from him?**

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