fraternal message to the Protestant Federation of Germany. We would ask you,
Mr. President to accept it in the same Christian spirit, and to do us the
honour of transmitting it to your Executive Council.
We are much distressed by the events of recent weeks during which the German
Jewish population has been subjected to discriminatory measures; the situation
threatens to deteriorate even further.
Our German co-religionists, imbued with a sense of justice, must certainly
be equally distressed by these excesses. It certainly cannot be pleasing
to them that, in most countries, spontaneous public opinion has espoused
the cause of German Jewry.
We would therefore ask you, Mr. President, if it would not be possible for
the Federation of German Evangelical Churches itself to intervene, discreetly
as they may deem fit, on behalf of the German Jews so that they may be
reinstated in all their rights of citizenship.
Would it not be a great triumph for the spirit of tolerance, which is
certainly a Protestant attribute? Would it not mean a re-establishment,
in the eyes of the world, of that reputation which your country has enjoyed
for so long, of being a highly cultured country?
May one not say that German Jews have, up till now, been much attached to
their country; that they have added to its distinction in the field of
science, art and literature. <46>
In short, that they are known for their adherence to the principles of
freedom of conscience?
Inspired as we are by purely Christian and humane sentiments, we have no
doubt that you will accept the above message in the spirit of grace."
Yours faithfully,
Henri Anet, Secretary; A. Rey, President. [138]
This letter was certainly not lacking in courtesy and we get the impression
that it was written in a spirit of moderate optimism. Apparently it was some
months later that the President of the Synod of the Evangelical Protestant
Churches of Belgium sent the following letter to the Chief Rabbi of Belgium:
"Time has passed since, during the first explosion of hate throughout Germany,
it might be supposed that a period of calm would follow. But according to
accounts in the press, it seems that a general and lasting exclusion of all
Jewish intellectuals cold-bloodedly continues.
This illegal and cruel oppression of a highly respectable minority shows
that the new Germany is descending into a mental attitude fit only for the
Middle Ages.
The destruction of such an out-grown mentality had been, until now, the
noblest work and the most imperishable glory of the new spirit of the last
four centuries." [139]
Even more outspoken was the address of Rev. Schijns, the President of the
Federation of Protestant Churches, at a Meeting of Protest in Bruxelles,
on April 6, 1933:
"You have heard the lay protests against anti-Semitic persecutions in Germany.
You have heard the Catholic protest. May I be permitted to speak on behalf
of the Protestant Churches of Belgium.
It is true that the voice of Christ, who clearly proclaimed the inviolable
rights and imperative demands of justice, has not always been listened to
over the centuries; on many occasions Christians themselves have had recourse
to violence; I cannot forget that in the 16th century my ancestors, the
Huguenots, and the Beggars, [140] also suffered cruel persecution...
Nevertheless, thanks to a clearer understanding of the demands of the
Gospel, as well as to the progressive evolution of the lay conscience,
we had become sincerely convinced that henceforth violence, which was
unanimously condemned by public opinion, is morally inconceivable. Yet now
we discover that violence has been 'honourably' reinstated, so that even
today it is still attacking innocent victims." <47>
We never supposed that, in our times, any person, on religious grounds,
could be accused of a political offence! Yet, now we hear that in Germany
a religion (the Jewish religion) is being formally and coldly proscribed,
by the civil authorities.
This inhuman attitude, inspired by a narrow, sectarian nationalism, stands
in absolute contradiction to the Gospel: it is a monstrous heresy, which
cannot but dwarf all other crimes.
The ancient Jewish law contains the following beautiful maxim: 'Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy might'. It is therefore with all my heart, with all my soul and
with all my might that I deliver here, in the name of my Protestant
co-religionists, a message of vigorous and profound sympathy for all
innocent victims of violence.
The sufferings of today, like those in the past, tragically illustrate the
struggle of brute force against the forces of the spirit. But just as moral
strength has triumphed in ages past, we are sure that to-day also, by virtue
of an eternal law, victory lies with the powers of the spirit!" [141]
10 FRANCE
Though a small minority, numbering altogether not more than 800,000 souls,
the spiritual sons of the Huguenots early and unequivocally protested against
the persecution of Jews. They themselves had been persecuted.
Rev. Marc Boegner, President of the Protestant Federation of France, sent
the following letter to the Chief Rabbi of France, in 1933:
"The Council of the Protestant Federation of France which reassembled to-day,
for the first time since the beginning of the period of the great sufferings
of your coreligionists in Germany, has asked me to assure you that the
Protestants of France whole-heartedly associate themselves with the
indignation of their Jewish compatriots and with the distress of the
victims of such base fanaticism.
The spiritual sons of the Huguenots are stirred with emotion and sympathy
whenever a religious minority is persecuted. They are well aware how much
Christianity, and in particular the Reformed Churches, owe to the prophets
who paved the way for the Gospel, and feel afflicted by the blows descending
upon their Jewish brothers.
May God help your sorely tried co-religionists to find in Him their strength
and consolation, as did their frequently persecuted ancestors. May He impart
to you, and to the Jews of France, the secret of soothing pain and reviving
hope. <48>
I wish to reassure you, that we are certain, that all our Churches will unite,
during the Holy Week, in fervent intercession on behalf of the Jews of
Germany." [142]
In the same year the following letter was sent by Rev. Cleisz, Honorary
President of the Consistory of the Reformed Churches of Lorraine, to the Chief
Rabbi of Nancy:
"You will hardly be surprised to find me among those who energetically
protest against the wave of anti-Semitism in Germany, which has cast so
many Jewish families in distress.
I abhor fanaticism, whatever its source, and am dismayed to observe in the
middle of the twentieth century such an excess of folly. Therefore I join
whole-heartedly with those who protest against such a tyranny.
I wish to assure you of my deep compassion for so many human beings overcome
by grief..." [143]
Rev. Wilfred Monod sent the following letter to the French Committee for the
Protection of Persecuted Jewish Intellectuals:
"Allow me to express my feelings of relief at the thought that France is
offering hospitality to Jews escaping from the darkness of a new Mediaevalism.
Although Jews were crushed by the great Empires of the West; later becoming
the vassals of the anti-Semitic Kings of Egypt and Syria; politically
annihilated by the Romans; hated by the Moslems; persecuted by the Church;
held in public disdain; treated as a stateless and homeless people even in
the twentieth century, and sometimes deprived of their civil rights in the
countries in which they were dispersed; the Jews have not disappeared as
did the Phoenicians or the people of Nineveh.
Without territory, without government, without currency, without flag,
Abraham's race has kept itself alive. What marvellous obstinacy! What
supernatural tenacity!
In spite of all this, Judaism has given the human race that mysterious
Book which maintains alive on this earth the inextinguishable flame of a
universal, international ideal, the world-embracing ideal of human
catholicity. Israel has bequeathed to men the Bible, Jesus Christ, and the
Messianic vision of the Kingdom of God...
On 29th August, 1914, up in the Vosges, one of our Catholic soldiers,
mortally wounded, asked for a crucifix, and it was the Jewish chaplain
who brought him this venerable symbol, some minutes before he himself
gave up his soul in the arms of a Jesuit priest. This happened on a Saturday,
the holy day of the Jewish Sabbath.
Welcome to the representatives of the wandering nation! On French soil they
will find a place to rest their head." [144] <49>
On April 17, 1933, a Protest Meeting was held at Lille. Rev. Bosc was the
Protestant spokesman, speaking in his "triple capacity as a human being,
a Frenchman and a Christian". We quote the following:
"... Finally, to protest against the persecutions and victimisations of the
Jews is a task in harmony with the spirit of Jesus Christ, and here I thank
Monsieur l'abbe who has just sounded forth a note of profound truth.
Everyone of us knows that the spirit of Jesus Christ is the spirit of peace,
the spirit of justice, and more than that: the spirit of brotherhood and of
love. It is the spirit which to-day imbues all moral and social systems in
the world, so that Jesus Christ is acknowledged as the unrivalled ruler not
only by Christianity as a whole but also by all mankind...
The spirit of Jesus Christ which, Ladies and Gentlemen, means the spirit
out of which are woven the dreams we have of a better future for mankind,
the dreams we dream when, surrounded by all sorts of iniquities and by all
kinds of ugliness, we nevertheless look towards some glorious dawn! The
spirit of Jesus means that spirit which will triumph because it is the
living truth.
It is in my triple capacity as human being, Frenchman and Christian that I
fully pledge my entire, conscious support to this movement of truth in its
efforts to infuse a little justice and kindness into mankind, against the
attempt to lead humanity back to the night and the iniquities of the Middle
Ages, from which it began to emerge." [144]
* * *
On November 20, 1935, a Meeting of Protest was held in the Hall of Chopin,
Paris. Rev. Marc Boegner, President of the Protestant Federation of France,
said the following:
"... Since I am here representing both Christian and Protestant France, I
should say that in the light of what is going on in Germany - whether it be
the persecutions of Jews or of Christians - it is impossible for us not to
add our most energetic protests to those you have heard so far.
What Christianity Owes to Judaism
"Christianity, as has been indicated by President Reynaud, is essentially a
universal creed. Once one believes in Christ, whatever one's denomination may
be, it is impossible not to subscribe fully to the words of that Jew of olden
times St. Paul, the apostle, who having plumbed the depths of Christ's thought,
exclaimed: 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus'.
(Gal. 3, 28).
This is the basic tenet on which, since July 1933, all preaching in the
Churches of Germany has been practically proscribed. <50>
First I wish to state that what has shocked and appalled Christian
conscience, what has provoked protests from one end of the Christian world
to the other?
Protests which will certainly be reiterated and increased - is precisely
the fact that this new gospel of racialism already has been applied to the
Jews, and seems to have reached its culmination point in the Nuremberg
Decrees. One cannot know whether even worse may not happen later on.
I have met many Jews who had been driven out of Germany since the Hitler
revolution, and when I went to Germany as recently as this year, on two
occasions while travelling through a large part of Germany, I could not
but feel intensely moved on seeing, at the entrance of villages and towns,
large signboards forbidding access to the Jews; and on many trees along
the roads, posters full of insults against them.
Christian as I am, and knowing what Christianity owes to Judaism, I know
that the Church of Jesus Christ is the daughter of what it calls the ancient
Church of Israel. The Protestant in me knows what the Gospel owes to those
prophets who, beginning eight centuries before Jesus Christ, have presaged
the universalism which the religion of Christ would later proclaim
throughout the world.
Did not Isaiah welcome the day when all nations would flow unto the mountain
of the Lord? And others after him, such as Jeremiah, did they not show their
people, the only people ever elected, the road by means of which they were
to bring to others the revelation which had been bestowed upon them, so that
all nations might come to know the true God?
The Gospel is the heritage and fulfilment of that great hope of the prophets.
It is impossible for a Christian, when he sees the infamous crusades
conducted against Judaism, not to be among those who declare that they are
unable to forget what they owe to the Jewish people. We are among those who
remember all this with deep gratitude. We believe that this gratitude, in
view of the suffering of this people who are being crucified once again,
ought to be shown in acts of sympathy and solidarity.
Racialism inside the Christian Churches
"The gospel of racialism of which you have just been told does not rear
its ugly head solely outside the Church, but also inside the Christian
Churches. Since July 1933, under the pretext of rallying the whole of
Germany round the doctrine of racial superiority - you have seen the
outcome of such teaching - and of purity of blood, they have begun to
persecute those who are not 100 percent Aryan, even inside the churches.
I was in Berlin in July, 1933, and there, where every wall might have
been equipped with a hidden microphone, I met one of the most
representative personalities of the Evangelical Church of Prussia.
He informed me of what had been happening during the last few weeks.
He said that he had felt compelled to resign from the high position he
had occupied in the German Church, even though his resignation would mean
a considerable financial sacrifice. He and those who were thinking and
acting like him were now unable to speak, to write, to telephone, or to
do anything whatsoever. <51>
"But," said he, "how could I have agreed to go and tell the young Evangelical
pastors whom I ordained two or three years ago, that they are not fit to
preach the Gospel or to carry out the duties of their ministry, simply
because they have a Jewish grandmother or grandfather?
This problem of the non-Aryam has since then caused much anguish to many
men who are pastors or simply beadles. The new gospel has made its appearance
in the Church, propagated, preached and spread by groups calling themselves
the 'Deutsch-Christliche' or the German Christians. It is necessary, they
claim, to expel from the churches and from all church posts, in every
denomination, those men who are not of absolutely pure Aryan blood for
three or four generations back.
The Church Resists
"This has resulted in unbearably painful conflicts. It should be
acknowledged that tremendous pressure was exerted by the State authorities
as well as by the pressure of the opinion which increasingly tends to
assert in religious circles that Adolf Hitler was the man through whom
Germany was able to re-establish herself.
in spite of all this, however, there have been instances of Catholic and
Protestant consciences refusing to bow and submit. Resistance was organized
in the Catholic Church, where the warning bell to the conscience of
Christians was rung by that admirable man, the Cardinal Archbishop of Munich.
In the Protestant Church, the great voice of the theologian, Kar1 Barth,
and the voices of many others, have been raised to rally Christian
consciences to their call.
A completely new Confessing Church has sprung up comprising more than
half of the pastors in Germany, quite apart from those who are still
hesitating, because they must make a living, and, therefore, ask themselves
what will happen to-morrow. About a thousand pastors have placed themselves
behind Bishop Mueller, the 'German Christian', whom you, Mr. Paul Reynaud,
have just mentioned.
The "New Gospel"
"It is not only through the persecution of the non-Aryans that the desire
has arisen amongst many Germam to preach a new gospel, but because of a
claim to meet Christ on a new basis, particularly on the basis of the
glorification of the German race and blood. The most extraordinary
statements have been made. Paganism has asserted itself on the fringes
of the Church and its influence gradually has pervaded it. An effort even
has been made in certain churches by pastors imbued with the spirit of
national-socialism, to have the Old Testament - containing the magnificent
history of the Jewish people and I even would say, of God's great acts
toward the Jewish race - banned and barred from religious instruction.
Included also is that moving page in the first book of your Bible, and
ours - note this, any Jews who may be listening to me - where we are told
that Abraham went so far as to be ready to sacrifice Isaac, his only son,
to God!
"Never will the Churches Agree..." <52>
"Subsequently there have been attempts to make peace with the Churches,
and the papers during the past few weeks have brought us news of 'peace
feelers' offered to the Churches.
Negotiations were envisaged both with the Catholic Church and with the
Evangelical Churches. But they never will induce either true Catholics
or Protestants, to put as a Gospel source, an affirmation of the superiority
of the German race over the others, nor a denial of anybody's right to
belong to the Church of Jesus Christ.
They may again start their persecutions, and I think they will. They may
chase pastors and priests from their churches and send them to concentration
camps. They may resort to petty annoyance and to persecution; however, I am
absolutely convinced that the Christian conscience has been aroused. Perhaps
this experience was necessary to awaken it out of a certain stupor?
The Christian conscience will absolutely oppose the events which have
succeeded each other which such rapidity over the past few years and any
attempt which may be made to persuade the Churches in any way to insert
into the Gospel (which desires that all men should be considered the
children of God and be reconciled in universal brotherhood) an addition
which asserts that some shall rank first and others may be excluded.
Never will the Churches agree that the Gospel of love, symbolized by the
two arms of Christ extended on the cross, will be replaced by a gospel
of race and blood.
I am convinced that by affirming our sympathy with all in Germany who are
being persecuted for their views, and with all in the Christian Church who
make efforts to resist (as I have tried to show) the determined attempt to
lead them onto the ground of racial discrimination, we are helping them in
their resistance. We are helping them to discover that there is a Christian,
as well as, a merely secular public opinion, throughout the entire world,
which is aware of all that this resistance implies in the way of present
sacrifice, and perhaps of still more suffering in the future.
Let us therefore be among those who by word and example give evidence of
that sympathy and solidarity. Let us unite here, as Mr. Paul Reynaud has
asked us to do, without distinction of religious, philosophic or even
political convictions, in protest against the besmirching of justice and
the dignity of man." [145]
* * *
The Council of the Protestant Federation of France, in its session of
November 29, 1938, unanimously adopted the following Resolution:
"The Council of the Protestant Federation of France, reassembled for the
first time since a terrible crime has provided a pretext for new
persecutions against the Jews, feels itself to be the mouthpiece of all
the Churches which it represents in our country, in making a solemn Protest
against a similar outburst of violence and cruelty. <53>
The Christian Churches will betray the message entrusted to them, if they
do not unreservedly condemn racial doctrines which are contrary to the
teaching of Christ and the apostles; and if they do not express their
utmost disapproval of the barbaric methods by which such doctrines are
practised..." [146]
In the light of "the serious problem confronting the authorities by the
arrival on French territory of numerous foreigners who had been expelled
from their own country by persecution", the Council of the Protestant
Federation in France instructed "all Protestant Frenchmen" as follows:
1. To aid the Government - in determined resistance to any suggestion of
violence, wherever it may come from and in whatever manner it expresses
itself - to solve so complex a problem in a quiet atmosphere and with
respect for human dignity.
2. To contribute as much as possible, by their gifts and by their
co-ordinated initiative, for the relief of the terrible distress which
they are witnessing and which makes its appeal to them. The Council
draws their attention to the existence of a French Committee for
Protestant Refugees, Aryans and non-Aryans, which is now functioning
and to which financial contributions can be sent... [147]
11 SWITZERLAND
The Protestant Churches of Switzerland are cantonal Churches, distinct
and independent from one another. In most of the cantonal Churches, the
legislative body is the Synod and the executive organ the Synodal Council.
The Federation of the Protestant Churches of Switzerland at first consisted
only of National Churches, but it soon admitted the Free Evangelical Churches,
the Methodist Church and the "Evangelische Gemeinschaft". The Federation has
2,888,122 baptized members.
At the beginning of April, 1933, the following Declaration, signed by 21
Protestant ministers, was addressed to "various Protestant Ecclesiastical
groups in French-speaking Switzerland":
"Moved by the present situation of the German Jews, and unable to understand
how the authorities, otherwise attentive to moral values, can ignore the
right of freedom of conscience, and of work, as well as security to every
human being, we, the undersigned, think that the time has come to draw the
attention of Christians to the serious implications in an attitude which is
the very negation of the evangelical spirit; a spirit which is synonymous
with love, freedom and mutual assistance.
We expect the Churches to raise their voices in order to claim for the Jews
the same degree of justice, which it is their duty to demand for every
oppressed minority." [148] <54>
On May 31, 1933, the Synod of the Free Evangelical Church of the Canton
Vaud sent the following letter to the President of the Council of the
Federation of Protestant Churches of Switzerland:
"We beg to bring to your attention the fact that the Synod of the Free
Evangelical Church of the Canton of Vaud, at its annual meeting at Lausanne,
unanimously resolved upon the following Declaration, which we now submit to
use as you see fit.
"Moved by the news which has reached us from Germany concerning the
numerous and regrettable restraints imposed upon the freedom of conscience,
and, in particular, concerning the ill-treatment of the Jewish population of
that country; "and with the conviction that the Gospel of Jesus Christ
constitutes an affirmation of freedom and love among the races of mankind;
the Synod of the Free Evangelical Church of the Canton of Vaud, assembled
at Lausanne, unites itself with all protests raised in favour of freedom of
conscience and respect for the Jews of Germany." [149]
In September, 1933, the Protestant Churches of Geneva published the
following Declaration:
"Events shocking and hurtful to a sense of justice are mounting in Germany
and have repercussions here.
Men are persecuted for their opinions. Dismissed, boycotted, ostracized,
they are suffering as in the days when neither freedom of thought nor of
conscience were tolerated. The mere fact of belonging to the Jewish race,
even if only by descent, frequently incurs implacable treatment.
These actions have given rise to protests in numerous countries and in
the most varied circles. Here too, our Christian conscience has been roused.
It would be dangerous to consider ourselves better than others. Intolerance
and injustice have their roots in our own soil. We must be on our guard.
Several papers make appeals for violence. The seeds of discord are being
sown among our people.
Anti-Semitism, which until now has been foreign to us, now finds its
advocates among us. Members of our Churches, also, forgetting that the
same blood flows in all mankind, and that, before God our Father, we are
all brothers, have been swayed by the passions of these times.
Let us not permit a spirit incompatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ
to take root in our country."
The National Protestant Church of Geneva; the Free Evangelical Church of
Geneva; Evangelical Christian Association; the Committee for Popular
Evangelism; the Council of the Methodist Church. [150] <55>
It is striking that the declarations and resolutions issued in Switzerland,
so many times mention the danger of anti-Semitic influences within the
country itself, and sometimes within the Church. [151]
* * *
On November 14, 1938, the Church Council of Canton Zurich addressed the
following public letter "To the Reformed People of Zurich":
"In indignation and horror we recently have witnessed, in the state
neighbouring us to the north, that Jew baiting has erupted and, in its
dimensions, surpassed the severest atrocities yet experienced.
We feel in spirit united with all our brothers and sisters in the
neighbouring country who, whatever their attitude toward Jewry may be,
deeply deplore such injustice, yet they must keep silent on the subject.
We must not be silent. We must consider it a Christian obligation to cry
out against it, not only within our church walls but to the world at large.
It is a terrible injustice to exterminate, by all conceivable means, a
nation which possesses, as does every nation, the right to exist.
It fills us with deep humiliation and shame to discover in a country living
for centuries under the influence of the gospel and of Luther, that sentiments
of passionate hatred can break out and boil over against a small racial and
religious minority, and that all humane and Christian feelings be suffocated.
It plainly shows us, to our horror, what human hearts are capable of when
racial hatred and blind raving passion win the upper hand, drowning the voice
of justice, mercy and goodness.
Can we Swiss suppose that we are immune against such frenzy? But are not the
same dark powers active within our own people, openly at times and sometimes
secretly, confusing conscience; stirring passions; igniting racial hatred?
It pains us that consideration for so many unemployed citizens in our own
nation prevents us from offering a protecting asylum to the suffering
refugees, who, like wild game, are chased from country to country. <56>
At least let us do for them all that is in our power! When in the next
few days a general collection is made for the benefit of these refugees,
among whom are not a few who, although Jewish by birth, are of the Christian
faith and thus a part of the Evangelical Church, let us open our hearts and
hands and express loving-kindness towards these remorselessly persecuted
people.
Let us close our hearts to all feelings of unchristian racial and religious
hatred. Neither hate, slander, oppression nor violence, but Jesus Christ's
love alone is capable of bringing longed for peace to restless humanity.
But above all, let us pray to the Almighty that He will protect all those
who are persecuted, and that He will save our Swiss people from the disgrace
of an anti-Jewish campaign and deliver us, and all nations, from the forces
of violence and injustice, and bring His Kingdom of justice, love and
peace." [152]
Again (as in 1933) the danger of anti-Semitic influences within Switzerland
was mentioned. The letter also gave as an excuse for not admitting more
refugees, that there were "so many unemployed citizens in our own nation".
The same motive had led other Governments - as for instance the Dutch
Government - to issue decrees restricting immigration.
The members of the Ministers Union of Geneva wrote a letter to the Chief
Rabbi of the City of Geneva in which they expressed their deep sympathy with
the persecuted Jews.
This letter, together with the declaration of the Church Council of Zurich
(see above) was read at a service, held in the synagogue on a Sunday and not,
as usual, on a Saturday. This postponement was in order that the prayers of
that day could be united with those of all the Christian Churches in
Switzerland for the persecuted Jews. [153]
In December, 1938, the Synod of the Canton of Bern issued the following
Declaration:
"The Synod of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Canton Bern declares, that
it views the merciless persecution of Jews and Fellow-Christians stemming
from Jewry, as an expression of a spirit which has nothing in common with
the spirit of Jesus Christ.
It calls upon all members of our Church to intercede on behalf of the
persecuted, especially our persecuted brothers; to stand up for them on
every occasion; and to oppose any further attempt to poison the
soul of our people with the spirit of racial hatred." [154]
* * * <57>
12 DENMARK
Leading Danish theologians - three professors and one lecturer of the
Copenhagen University [155] and the Bishop of Copenhagen, Fuglsang-Damgaard -
published a declaration on January 10, 1936, denouncing an anti-Semitic
brochure, "The Christian Church according to the concept of the peoples
of the North", based on the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". Professor
Frederik Torm related the history of this forgery in an informative article.
The matter drew attention, even in Germany, where the "Volkische Beobachter"
in its edition of January 14, 1936 reported the story as told by its
correspondent in Copenhagen under the caption "Danish theologians grow
nervous" and with the subtitle: "The Jewish question arises in Denmark".
The report of the former German Envoy, Richthofen, dated January 13, 1936,
shows the same attitude, considering the article of the theologians as an
act of defence against "the ever increasing understanding of the Jewish
question in Germany among the Danish public". [156]
In the autumn of 1938, Bishop Fuglsang-Damgaard said in his sermon at the
opening of a new church, Lundehuskirken, that it was with deep pain that
the Christian community had heard about the persecution of the Jews in
Germany, which had reached a culminating-point in those days.
149 pastors of Copenhagen supported these words by a public statement and
pronounced their "deep sympathy with our Jewish countrymen on account of
the sufferings which at this time befall their brethren and which must
fill every Christian with horror". <58>
Dr. Fuglsang-Damgaard asked the pastors to pray for the suffering Jews
in the services the following Sunday, and he himself declared at a service
in Helligkors Church, that we must pray to God "to protect our people
against the poisonous pestilence of anti-Semitism, hatred of the Jews and
persecution of the Jews. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was David's Son
after the flesh, and those who love Him cannot hate His people". [157]
13 SWEDEN
The Swedish Ecumenical Council sent the following letter, dated April
3, 1933, to the German Evangelical Church Council in Berlin:
"The Swedish Ecumenical Council, a representation of different Swedish
Church communities, sincerely regrets the existing conditions in Germany
and the boycott of German goods abroad, and is deeply concerned by the
anti-Semitic action in your country, such as has been expressed in official
statements and actions.
We hope and pray that, with God's help, it will be possible for the
German Evangelical Churches actively to stress the genuinely Christian
principles, which you upheld in your appeal before the latest elections.
"Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
As Christian brothers, we are anxious to be in communication with you
in this matter and further hear your views.
In sincere communion in the faith, for the Swedish Ecumenical Council:
Arch-bishop Erling Eidem, Chairman. [158]
The Appeal of the German Evangelical Church Council to which this letter
referred, was published on March 3, 1933, just before the elections for
the Reichstag. Unfortunately, we do not know whether any reply was received
by the Swedish Ecumenical Council.
In 1933, 64 prominent Protestant Church leaders also published an "Appeal
to Swedish Christianity", warning against anti-Semitic influences in Sweden:
"Action against the Jews in Germany seems to work as a stimulant - and no
small one - for the anti-Semitism which exists in certain Swedish circles.
Many of us may have been prone to consider this movement in our country as
insignificant, and not worth combating. But the matter is more serious than
that. If sufficiently great spiritual strength is not mobilized against this
fanatical and shortsighted nationalism, it is difficult to foresee the result. <59>
The undersigned regard it as their duty to express the worry and anger with
which this anti-Semitic movement has filled them, and to appeal to Swedish
Christianity of all denominations to fight against racial hatred, stressing
Christ's valuation of man and his brother-love. <59>
Already from a general and cultural viewpoint, anti-Semitism is an expression
of ingratitude and shortsightedness. No less in our country, citizens of
Jewish descent, have contributed in all fields to such a degree that, if
all trace of what they have done were erased from the Swedish civilization,
to-day, it would be much poorer.
But first, anti-Semitism must be condemned from a Christian-religious
viewpoint. Here too one can, rightly, speak of a debt of gratitude. The
prophets and psalms of Israel also belong to our holy heritage. And in
spite of all wild racial hypotheses, Jesus Christ is a son of Israel and
a perfecter of these prophets' work.
However, it is not only, and not first and foremost, the gratitude for a
spiritual inheritance which urges Christian people to take their stand
against anti-Jewish activity. They would be denying their Master if they
did not do so. For in Him all racial differences are overcome, in the
divine love, which has taken form in Him, we are all each other's brothers,
no matter to which nation or race we belong.
Whosoever professes himself a follower of Christ, yet lets himself be seized
by nationalistic presumption, of which anti-Semitism is one of the most
repellant expressions, must realize that any action designed to attach a
stamp of inferiority on members of the Jewish people or deprive them of
full civil rights, is in absolute opposition to the spirit and teaching
of Jesus.
The gravity of the situation has impelled us to make public this
declaration, which is also an appeal to Swedish Christianity to oppose
unmitigatedly a propaganda which is becoming louder and more aggressive
anti-Jewish, and the mentality of violence from which it stems. Time must
not be lost. Freedom of speech is not yet stifled. The gospel of Truth and
Love may still sound its voice." [159]
At a meeting of the Stockholm Pastors' Society, held in 1934, Professor
Nygren of Lund opened the discussion on the subject: "What is the reason
for the struggle within the German Church?"
The Pastors' Society unanimously decided to publish in the press their
agreement with the fundamental viewpoints expressed in Prof. Nygren's address.
The Society's Resolution reads as follows:
"The furious struggle now taking place within the German Church is not on
a personal question, a question of rights or a question of organization.
Nor is it a struggle for or against the National-Socialistic State or for
or against the liberalistic freedom ideal. <60>
The struggle concerns Christianity itself, its existence or non-existence.
What is happening in Germany to-day is nothing more or less than the
appearance of a new religion, beside and in contrast to Christianity - a
religion based on 'Blut und Boden', on racial idealism and racial egoism.
This has to some extent thrown Christians and non-Christians into jail.
From a deeper viewpoint, the difference between 'German Christians' and the
heathen 'German Faith Movement', therefore, becomes surprisingly small. If we
observe the deepest tendency, of which, in general, the followers of these
movements are quite unconscious, it can even be said that, for the former
group, it is a question of the new religion in Christian guise; for the latter,
the same religion in Germanic guise.
The extraordinary danger is that the present Church management has not the least
understanding of the reason for the struggle. It believes that it is fighting
for the sake of Christianity and does not realize that it has slipped into a new
racial religion.
True, it often stresses that the Bible and the Confession should be left 'unas-
sailed', but the tone of the voice itself reveals that it is on something else
that one subsists. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The real
pathos first appears when one can talk of 'Blut und Boden', 'Blut und Rasse',
'Blut und Ehre'. The god one really worships is the idol of one's own people.
But in the German Church there are men - and fortunately these are not few - who
understand what is at stake; what this new religion has to offer the people,
from a Christian viewpoint, is nothing less than idolatry. One creates a new god
in one's own image, the image of 'the German Man'.
The Christians who see this must, through their faithfulness to the Gospel, be
forced out into the struggle. Because of this they find themselves in tragic
conflict; for there is so much in the new state to which, in their hearts,
they say 'yes', and with joy. But when they fight this new heathen spirit that
has penetrated the Church and seized the power in it, they are stamped as
enemies of the state by the uncomprehending Church management. The point has
been reached, where those who do not want to give up their Christian faith are
attacked by the German Church management: with external means of power, the
secret state police, removals from office and suspensions.
We, Evangelical Christians of a kindred people, have seen with grief and concern
that the German Church management through such activities has tarnished the
Christian name. With the deepest sympathy we follow the oppressed Christians'
brave and joyfully self-sacrificing struggle, in defence of Evangelical
Christianity, not only in Germany but also the world over." [160]
<61>
The Resolution contains points that to-day are obvious to us, but in those days
they undoubtedly enlightened many ignorant people.
Much that has been said by the Lutheran Church leaders of Sweden, already in
the first years of Hitler's regime, shows a deep theological insight into the
nature of anti-Semitism. Few Churches in other lands showed this insight at so
early a date. This fact should prevent us from over-simplifying the answers to
the question, as to how far certain of Luther's views about the Jewish people
influenced the Lutheran Churches in the twentieth century.
* * *
The following statement, signed by Erling Eidem, Archbishop of Uppsala, and
25 other Church leaders was issued by the Swedish Ecumenical Council, in
autumn 1938:
"A storm of violence and cruelty goes through the world. The Jewish people are
severely hit by this. Their horrible fate must awake in Christian minds strong
indignation, as well as deep sympathy for the victims. To belong to the Jewish
race is becoming equivalent to being stateless within that portion of humanity
which calls itself Christian. This brings shame upon the Christian name.
Anti-Semitic Propaganda in Sweden
"In our country, too, anti-Semitic propaganda is prosecuted, even though it may,
in some respects, avoid publicity and, especially under the pressure of recent
occurrences, has met with deserved resistance. More than others, Christians here
must be on their guard. No racial differences exist in the Christian evaluation
of man. Love of Christ forbids branding any person inferior. Persecution of the
people of Israel on the one hand requests Christ's congregation to fight against
violence and injustice, and preventive action on the other.
The Swedish Ecumenical Council, representing the ecumenical world organizations
as well as the larger Swedish Church communities, hereby begs to remind you of
our Christian responsibility in this matter. We must not forget that we too,
bear a measure of guilt for this evil power that has arisen through loveless
ness and injustice in the world.
We appeal to all who, in their capacity as pastor, congregation head or
preacher, are responsible for the creation of public opinion in such circles as
come under Christian influence, to resist the spirit of mercilessness and
injustice in the anti-semitic propaganda, by all ways and means available in
each community. It seems especially important to us to try to prevent its poison
penetrating the minds of the Young.
Not only religious instruction in the schools can give an opportunity for this,
but also instruction in Sunday schools, confirmation classes and Bible classes.
A few congregational evenings could be used to throw light upon the plight of
the Jewish people and to stress our Christian responsibility towards them. The
un-Christian element in all racial hatred could at times be stressed in the
sermon. All discussion of politics naturally must be banned from such Christian
instruction and preaching. <62>
Aid of Refugees
"Where the feeling of responsibility has been awakened, it must be transformed
into action. This can be done by gifts to the relief organizations among the
banished, which also have branches in our country. In co-operation with other
organizations, the Swedish Ecumenical Council's Refugee Committee seeks to aid
refugees both within and outside our country's borders, particularly Christians
of non-Aryan descent.
The money already collected is now almost spent, but the need for help is still
very great. Gifts for this activity can be deposited under the name "Help for
Refugees" on the Swedish Ecumenical Council's postal current account No. 80710,
Stockholm.
Recently, the Council's Refugee Committee, the Deacon Board's Social Committee
and the Swedish Israel Mission have started other aid activities, such as
accommodating children of Jewish refugees, preferably Jewish-Christian, in
Swedish homes for a shorter or longer period, and trying to find places
farmers' homes for about a year for Jewish-Christian youth, particularly male,
who need re-education for later emigration to countries which have declared
themselves willing to receive them.
Information of such homes as well as financial contributions will be gratefully
received by Pastor B. Pernow, Idungatan 4, Stockholm, postal current account No.
125545.
Intercession
"At this period, with the mentality of violence penetrating minds more and more,
it is important not to neglect the possibilities we still have to make Christ's
mind and Christ's thoughts heard regarding the relation between man and man,
between people and people. Scarcely at any other point has this task seemed
clearer and more demanding than as it concerns the Western peoples' conduct
towards Israel.
May Christ's love in our hearts light a flame of concern for a people who were
the Lord's own, the people of the Prophets and the Apostles. May Christ's love
make us burning and persistent in our intercession for those who suffer
persecution, as well as, for those who persecute. May they receive the grace
to repent. May Christ's love make us firm against all hatred, drive out all
fear, and make our hands ready for service. Brethren, in the name of Christ
we beg you to receive this appeal in a brotherly spirit." [161]
It is difficult to understand how "all discussions of politics" can be banned
from Christian instruction and teaching, as the statement demands, whilst at
the same time resisting "the spirit of mercilessness...". <63>
In this same statement, support was requested for the Refugee Committee,
which sought "to aid refugees... particularly Christians of non-Aryan
descent". We have seen the same trend in Churches in other countries.
However, the appeal of the Bishops of Sweden, also in 1938, pleaded for aid
to Jewish children and youth in general.
This "Appeal for Help to Jewish Refugees" was signed by Archbishop Eidem
and 12 other Church leaders:
"With deep sorrow and sincere sympathy, we have witnessed the terrible
sufferings to which the Jewish people, not least during recent months, have
been exposed spiritually as well as physically.
The question of the Jewish people has become a question for all mankind. No one
can escape responsibility any longer. Our consciences shaken by the suffering
of innocent people will not rest until peace and refuge has been provided for
the Jewish people. Each one of us must be on his guard against contamination
by the plague of racial hatred; we must not betray the Christian commandment
of love to every suffering neighbour.
May we willingly do our Samaritan service in aiding mercy. The duty and
possibility nearest to us is to support Jewish refugees who have had to
relinquish home and property. We must hurry to help provide a refuge and a
new future for innocent children and youth.
Various collections in this respect have already begun. We hereby wish to
stress that collections for Jewish children and youth are being mediated by the
Swedish Church's Deacon Board. Contributions should be sent to "Deacon Board,
Help for Jewish children, Stockholm 7, Postal Cheque Account No. 155650'." [162]
14 HUNGARY
The first anti-Jewish Law, restricting the economic activities of Jews, was
enacted in 1938. The representatives of the Churches in the Hungarian Upper
House, amongst whom was the Protestant Bishop Ravasz, voted for the passage
of this law. [163] <64>
"The only amendment the representatives of the Churches wished to be introduced
was that certain modifications should be included for the benefit of the
baptized Jews. Apart from that, they took the view that once the Bill had become
law 'it would be possible to avoid emphasis being laid on the Jewish question
and thus to allay anti-Semitism'.
This attitude turned out to be a fatal mistake. It was the stone that started
the landslide, and it is all the more regrettable that the Christian Churches
lent this Bill their support." [164]
Rabbi Fabian Hershkovits (former Chief Rabbi of Budapest, now living in Tel-
Aviv, Israel) had the following to say:
"Bishop Ravasz was certainly not an anti-Semite. After the war, in 1947, he
was the President of the Council of Christians and Jews of which I also was a
member.
He and his friends intended, by supporting the anti-Jewish law in 1938, to
guard the national Hungarian interest. He did not understand that Europe,
after Hitler had come to power, had become a powder-magazine; one should
not light a match in a powder-magazine; that was Bishop Ravasz's historical
mistake." [165]
The fact remains that Protestant Bishops supported an anti-Semitic Law. If
this was an error of judgment, it certainly was a fatal error.
In 1939, the Hungarian government introduced a bill for the enactment of the
second anti-Jewish Law. The measures included drastic curtailments of personal
rights.
The representatives of the Churches "stood solidly against the passage of the
bill" but ultimately "refrained from voting down the Teleki government," that
is to say they did not vote against the passage of the Law but tried "to
incorporate such provisions in the law as would insure the greatest possible
benefits for particular Jewish categories, the first among these being the
Jewish converts to Christianity". [166]
Hilberg comments:
"In waging the struggle for the baptized Jews in the first place, the church
had implicitly declined to take up the struggle for Jewry as a whole. In
insisting that the definition exclude Christians, the church in effect stated
the condition upon which it would accept a definition that set aside a group
of people for destruction." [167]
<65>
15 RUMANIA
We hardly found any statement against anti-Semitism issued by one of the
Orthodox Church leaders in Eastern Europe, before the second world war.
Rumania was notorious for the strong anti-Semitic influences in that country.
The following Declaration, issued on April 15, 1933, by Mgr. Pimem,
Metropolitan of Moldavia and Suceava, is the more striking:
"We now are in the Holy Week and for a time we must forget petty affairs and
acts of men. Nevertheless I wish to state one thing, namely, that I do not
approve of the actions and policies of the Nazis with respect to the Jews of
Germany, just as I disapprove of the anti-Christian campaign carried out in
Russia.
I desire peace for the entire world and on the occasion of this Holy Feast I
express my wishes for the health and progress of our people. We should follow
but one course: the way of Christ, for only thus can we be led to salvation."
[168]
16 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
Many leaders of the Churches in Great Britain publicly protested against
the first anti-Jewish measures in Germany. Most of the protests were made
by the leaders of the Church of England, though some made by other Churches
are also recorded. The Church of England, however, certainly had the widest
range of influence in England. I have not recorded all protests that were
made. [169] <66>
Already in 1933 the protests were clear and unequivocal, though the Church
leaders seemed to be afraid of offending the German Government. The
Archbishop of Canterbury said in the House of Lords, on March 30, 1933,
in reply to statements made by Lord Reading:
"I feel that it would be a decided omission on my part, were I not to state
publicly, in the name of the worthiest citizens of our country, whom I
represent here, that I entirely agree with the words just spoken by the
Right Hon. Lord Reading, words which touched us all.
I sincerely hope that His Majesty's Government will, as I know it hopes to
do, be able to assure us that it is doing its utmost to express to the Jewish
community the sympathy of this country and of all Christian subjects, - not
least of those amongst us who have a feeling of sincere friendship for the
German nation." [170]
The Archbishop himself apparently belonged to "those amongst us who have a
feeling of sincere friendship for the German nation".
The Bishop of Ripon addressed the following Message to the International
League combating Anti-Semitism and Racialism, on May 1, 1933:
"Most gladly do I avail myself of this opportunity of expressing my sympathy
with you and the International League in your struggle against anti-Semitism,
on the occasion of the distressing situation created in Germany by the new
form of government. It seems almost incredible that such things should happen
in the 20th century, and above all in a country like Germany. The leaders of
this country, - of the Church as well as of the State, - have not left the
German government in doubt as to the feelings aroused in us by its policy
of cruelty and suicide." [171]
On May 5, 1933, the Archbishop of York issued the following Message:
"Racial persecution is an insult to civilization and culture. It is our duty
to endeavour to understand the cause and the character of the Nazi revolution
in Germany, which has gained the support of a large number of the best citizens
of the country. But although it generally happens that understanding produces
sympathy, the persecution of Jews, Pacifists and others, such as has so far
disgraced the conquests of the Revolution, cannot but alienate all sympathies.
It is highly important that the government and leaders of the German nation
should realize how great the animosity is which these acts provoke among the
best British citizens. <67>
Whatever excuses may be made for deeds of violence committed in the course
of a revolution, no condemnation can be too severe for the persecution and
the organized terror, which undeniably are typical aspects of the recent
revolution." [172]
No doubt the Nazi revolution in Germany had gained the support of a large
number of citizens of that country. That the Archbishop believed that they
belonged to the best citizens of Germany, is typical of the atmosphere that
reigned in those days. Fortunately, however, "the best British citizens
were provoked by the persecution".
On May 15, 1933, a Meeting of Protest was held in Birmingham.
The Bishop of Birmingham presented the following Resolution:
"This meeting of Christian citizens of Birmingham who are anxious to promote
friendly international relations, expresses its profound conviction that the
discriminating measures adopted against the Jewish race, both in Germany and
elsewhere, are contrary to the spirit and the principles of Christianity.
It urges Christian men and women everywhere to exert their influence in order
to do away with racial and national prejudice." [173]
The resolution was adopted at the close of the Meeting.
On May 31, 1933, the Archbishop of Canterbury addressed a Meeting of Anglican
Clergy at Westminster. The English Primate appealed to the German nation:
"to give up, without delay, the racial discrimination which is now being
practised. The true strength of a nation and the respect owing to it by other
nations lies in the impartial administration of justice to all those who live
in its territory". [174]
On June 27, 1933, the Archbishop of Canterbury addressed a Meeting of Protest,
held at Queen's Hall, London:
"We all know that at this very time while we are gathered here in an
atmosphere of peace and security, the members of the Jewish community in
Germany are being expelled from all public employment, from the posts
which they had obtained in virtue of their qualifications, in law, in
medicine, and at the universities, and that they are even excluded from
concert halls, where music was always considered to be the language common
to all mankind. They are being progressively deprived - even when permission
is given to practise their profession or their trade - of every chance of
earning a living... <68>
I think with particular indignation of what I have heard concerning the
treatment inflicted on Jewish children, who are set apart in schools, separated
from other children as though they were unclean. Think of the effect this must
produce on such children in whom the feeling is inculcated from their tenderest
years that they are not worthy to mix with other Germans! And then picture to
yourselves the effect this is bound to have on non-Jewish German children, who
are thus taught from their earliest days to despise and look down upon other
children.
When injustice prevails to such an extent, it is impossible here or in any part
of the civilized world, that men for whom justice is a part of the heritage they
desire to keep intact should remain silent. They must needs speak, were it only
to ease their own conscience." [175]
The Archbishop showed a remarkable insight when he expressed his particular
indignation about the separation of Jewish children in schools from other
children. That was at a time when many Christians and Jews tended to
underestimate the malevolent intentions of the rulers of the Third Reich.
Representatives of all religious creeds, responding to an appeal of the
United Council of Christian Churches in Ireland (now renamed the Irish
Council of Churches) voted for the following Resolution, on the occasion
of a public Meeting of Protest, held at Belfast, in May 1933:
"We have met here in order to express our deepest regret that millions of
law-abiding citizens who are not guilty of any crime or of any criminal
intentions, should have been accused, persecuted and placed beyond the pale
of the law, for the sole reason that they belong to the race which was, after
all, the source of our European religion, and to which the founder of
Christianity belonged.
The meeting is horrified at the thought of the sufferings endured and the
consequences, which are bound to ensue for Europe and the whole world. The
history of the human race, of these islands, and of Ireland herself presents
countless examples of the disastrous effects that persecution has had for us,
not to mention the repercussion elsewhere.
We know the obstacles that intolerance placed in the way of our national
development, the harm it has done, the wounds it has inflicted, the hatred
it has caused to accumulate in the course of centuries; hatred by which the
minds of men are poisoned long after the actual grievances have disappeared.
For this reason we deplore this new seed of death, the dire results of which
we foresee, not only for Germany, but also for the whole of Europe."[176] <69>
The Church of Scotland is by far the largest Church in Scotland. The General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the final authority of that Church. It is
convened annually in May and attended by about 700 ministers and 700 elders,
delegated by the presbyteries of the Church.
The following statement was issued by the General Assembly, in May, 1933:
"The General Assembly rejoice that, in this country, the longstanding
traditions of friendliness and goodwill to the Jewish people continue to
be maintained; they deplore the growth of anti-Semitism in many lands to-day,
and, in particular, its recent intensified manifestations in Germany; and they
respectfully appeal to the sister German Churches to secure, through their
influence with their fellow countrymen and governing authorities, that,
notwithstanding the inevitable unsettlement of revolutionary conditions,
the suffering of the innocent shall cease, and justice and charity towards
all shall prevail." [177]
The Church of Scotland apparently was optimistic about the "influence of the
sister German Churches with their fellow-countrymen and governing authorities".
We, who now live after the events, are not astonished that the General Assembly
lamented, in 1937, that, "the protesting voice of the Christian Church has
been so barren of results". [178]
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was the only ecclesiastical
authority, which as far as I know, spoke out against anti-Semitism year after
year. The contents of the statements show that it was not an automatic affair,
for the changing character of the situation was reflected in these protests.
In May, 1934, the following Statement was adopted:
"The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, in light of the present world
situation as concerns the Jewish race, place on record the following expression
of their view and convictions. <70>
Remembering the age-long sufferings of the Jewish people, their homelessness
a nation which has lasted for centuries, the persecutions, injustices and
hardships they have endured, from Governments, Churches and individuals;
in view also of the present fresh outbreaks of anti-Semitic fanaticism
manifested in many lands, the General Assembly offer to the Jewish people
their heartfelt sympathy with them in their almost intolerable wrongs.
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland desire to assure the entire
Jewish world that ill-treatment of the Jews on account of their race or religion
is to them abhorrent; that in their judgment it is a denial of the first
principles laid down by the great Founder of the Christian Faith, who places
love and kindness to all as fundamental laws of His Kingdom; and that it is
their firm belief that any Church which claims to be animated by the spirit
of Jesus Christ and which nevertheless acts with intolerance towards members
of the Jewish race, is thereby denying the elementary doctrines of the
Christian Faith.
The General Assembly acknowledge with gratitude to God the great contributions
to human knowledge which the Jewish race has made in many realms; in a special
degree they express their debt to the Jewish people for the scrupulous care
with which they preserved the early documents of Holy Scripture for the
ultimate benefit of all nations, which for centuries have nourished the piety
of myriads who thereby have learned of the grace of Almighty God.
The General Assembly would, in conclusion, again express their sense of the
profound significance of the fact that the One whom they rejoice to believe in
as the divine Saviour of the world came, according to the flesh, of the
Jewish race, and they feel that this thought imparts to the Hebrew nation
a special and peculiar position in world history, rendering it a duty on the
part of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ to love also the race from which
He sprang." [179]
It was then moved and resolved that the Assembly send to the Chief Rabbi
a message of sympathy. The statement issued in May, 1935, is as follows:
"The General Assembly renew their protest against the anti-Semitic spirit
which still prevails in many countries, express their sympathy with the Jews
in their sufferings, and urge their faithful people to a greater earnestness
in commending the Gospel as the one sure basis of fellowship and peace
among all men." [180]
Not all statements and protests issued over this period in Great Britain and
Ireland can be recorded here, but we mention in conclusion two statements
issued by Churches, not yet mentioned. <71>
In April 1933, the following Message was sent by Dr. Scott Midgett, President
of the United Methodist Church, to a meeting at the White-chapel Art Gallery:
"All the different branches of the Christian Churches share the Jewish
Communities' horror of all deeds of violence against citizens, and especially
of such outbursts of violence against any race or class of society.
I feel convinced that I am interpreting the feeling of the Methodist Church
in stressing our hope that measures will instantly be taken in Germany in order
to prevent a recurrence of explosions of this nature in the future." [181]
In 1934, the "Report to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in
England" stated:
"There has unhappily appeared in various parts of the world, notably in
Germany, a recondescense of that irrational and wholly unchristian spirit
of anti-semitism, which from time to time has disgraced European civilisation.
A number of its victims have arrived in our country, and the Archbishops of
Great Britain have issued a moving appeal for their relief. But we must do
something more. To quote the News Sheet issued by the International Committee
for the Christian Approach to the Jews: "We must play the part of the Good
Samaritan".
But that is only one of our objectives. Wise Christian statesmanship demands
that in addition to our relief activities, we must also endeavour to eliminate
the causes, which create anti-semitism and its victims. Those who are in
a position to know, maintain that the outbreak in Germany is sure to spread
to other lands. Indeed it has already begun to do so. We know of attempts
to foster the spirit in our own country. And there are so-called Christians
who attempt to justify it. But note the fact that anti-semitism is essentially
anti-Christian. No conscious anti-Semite can do homage to Christ, the Jew."
The Assembly adopted the following Resolution:
"The Assembly regrets the spirit of anti-semitism now prevalent in Germany
and other parts of Europe, and urges its faithful people so to act towards
all Jews as to allay the spread of this spirit." [182] <72>
* * *
On November 20, 1935, the Bishop of Chichester (Dr. George Bell) moved a
resolution in the Church Assembly. [183] The Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr.
Lang) had to leave to officiate at the christening of His Majesty's grandson.
He asked the Archbishop of York to take his place in the chair. Without a
word of explanation, however, his absence might be misunderstood.
"Speaking simply for himself, he felt bound to say that he did most strongly
protest against the persecution of the Jews...
He was sure that the continuation of the present modes of persecution must
seriously affect the good will with which the people of this country desired
to regard the German nation."
The Bishop of Chichester then moved: "That this Assembly desires to express
its sympathy with the Jewish people and those of Jewish origin in the
sufferings which are being endured by many of their number in Germany,
and trusts that Christian people in this and other countries will exert
their influence to make it plain to the rulers of Germany that the
continuance of their present policy will arouse widespread indignation
and prove a grave obstacle to the promotion of confidence and good will
between Germany and other nations".
He said he moved the resolution with great reluctance, as one who had
a profound admiration for Germany, as one who had many friends in that
country, and desired the closest co-operation and the firmest mutual
understanding between Germany and Great Britain.
He was compelled to move his resolution because, as a human being, he saw
a wrong done to humanity in one great area of German life and action.
As a friend of Germany he saw the hoped-for friendship between two kindred
countries tumbling into ruin through the prosecution of a policy against a
section of its population, which was unworthy of a great civilized nation.
He appealed to the rulers of Germany to desist from a course which shocked
Christian opinion in this country in a way to which the nearest analogy was
the oppression of the Jews in Russia by the Tsarist Government exactly 30
years ago. The hardships suffered by baptized persons of Jewish origin made
a peculiar claim upon their Christian sympathy and compassion. There were
two points of attack: <73>
the casting out of the Jews from all cultural and professional life, together
with the precariousness of their position in business, and the defamation of
the Jews throughout Germany. The Nuremberg laws passed last September were
supposed to give protection and security within limits to the Jews, yet
suffering of individuals increased and the personal attacks grew bolder.
No doubt they saw in The Times not so many weeks back that prayer was asked
in all German synagogues for protection for the Jews against slander, with the
result that the Chief Rabbi suffered imprisonment for one day and other Rabbis
suffered punishment. He was sure that great masses of German people themselves
abhorred the policy of persecution. They, too, must feel as we felt, that it
was a great scar across the fair fame of Germany.
The Bishop of Southwark (Dr. Parsons), in seconding the resolution, said they
had hoped that the days of the Ghetto had passed for ever.
Now the Jewish people in Germany apparently were being forced back into
conditions which reminded them all too vividly of the Ghetto. Their whole
position, if it could not be compared with that of slaves, could be compared
with that of helots. An article in The Times had described the whole policy
as a "cold pogrom".
Mr. S. Carlile Davis, the German Vice-Consul at Plymouth, in opposing the
resolution, said that every member of the Assembly would agree that they should
all express sympathy with those who suffered from persecution, envy, hatred,
malice, or any uncharitableness...
The Jewish question, so far as it affected Germany, was purely a race question,
and it was nothing new in Germany. It was not for us to dictate to any people
how they should handle a race question...
The Bishop of Durham (Dr. Henson) submitted that they had in the resolution
brought before them by the Bishop of Chichester one of those matters which
required from them as a great representative Assembly of Christian men a clear
pronouncement of their convictions. One thing which they ought to emphasize
was the solidarity of civilization...
The Jews were just as mixed a race as the Germans - they could hardly be more.
This nonsense about race - as if there were some poison in the ancestry of
Judaism which must be guarded against - was sheer hallucination and nonsense.
We knew in this country that the Jews could be as prominent in good citizenship
as any other section of His Majesty's subjects.
We, who were the children of Christendom, could not exclude from our minds
the vastness of the obligations under which we stood to the Jewish people.
Our Divine Lord, according to the flesh, was a Jew. His Apostles were all
Jews. The Sacred Book, which we used was a Jewish Book. It was preposterous,
base and almost incredibly mean that we, the children of Christendom, should
turn on the ancient children of God, to whom religiously, spiritually and
morally we owed almost everything we value. <74>
"The least we can do," Dr. Henson concluded, "is to make it clear from our
hearts that we loathe and detest this attitude which is obtaining in Germany,
and protest against the continuance of this brutal oppression of a small
minority of Jewish citizens in Germany." (Loud and continued cheers.)...
Mr. G.F. Lefroy (Exeter), in opposing the resolution, said that Parliament
itself would not dream of passing it. He moved, as an amendment, that only the
first portion of the resolution should be moved, confining it to the words
"That the Assembly desires to express its sympathy with the Jewish people and
those of Jewish origin in the sufferings which are being endured by many of
their numbers in Germany".
On being put to the vote, Mr. Carlile Davis's motion for the previous question
and Mr. Lefroy's amendment were rejected by very large majorities. The Bishop
of Chichester's motion was then carried, with few dissentients. [184]
Some of the Bishop of Chichester's words mentioned above could create
misunderstanding, for instance, that he "had a profound admiration for
Germany". Dr. Bell's record regarding the fight against anti-Semitism (as
well as in many other respects) is outstanding. [185]
One should note the policy of deception practised by the Germans:
"The Nuremberg laws passed last September were supposed to give protection
and security within limits to the Jews...". [186] That seems incredible, and
yet it provided a pretext for people who wanted to do nothing.
In the discussion on the above mentioned resolution, one Mr. Lefroy, in
opposing the resolution, said: "Parliament itself would not dream of passing
it. Therefore, why should the Assembly pass it?" Apparently it escaped the
attention of Mr. Lefroy that a Church Assembly is not a Parliament, and that
a Church body often can and ought to say things publicly, even though a
Parliament is not prepared to do so, or perhaps for that very reason.
However, the Bishop of Durham's speech, in the same meeting of the Church
Assembly, is an outstanding example of how a Christian leader could and
should speak.
<75>
The Chief Rabbi, Dr. J.H. Hertz, wrote to the Bishop of Chichester:
"Your words will come as a ray of hope to hundreds of thousands whose
annihilation seems to have been decided upon by the Nazi rulers." [187]
At a meeting of the London Diocesan Conference [188] held in Central Hall,
Westminster, in 1936, the following resolution was submitted for discussion
by permission of the Bishop of London:
"This Conference, while fully aware of the difficulties that must arise from
the presence in certain districts of large populations of people of other
religious beliefs and social habits, asserts that the Jew and the Christian
are equal children of God, and therefore calls upon all Christians to stand
firm against any and every attempt to arouse anti-Semitic feeling for
political or any other needs." [189]
The Bishop of Chichester was very active in promoting help for Christians of
Jewish origin. [190] This subject is, however, beyond the scope of this book.
In the summer session of the Church Assembly, in June 1938, Dr. Bell pleaded
that the needs of Jews and Christians alike should be remembered.
"The Bishop of Chichester moved:
That this Assembly records its deep distress at the sufferings endured by
'non-Aryan' Christians, as well as by members of the Jewish race, in Germany
and Austria, and urges that not only should everything possible be done by
Government aid to assist their emigration into other countries but also that
Christians everywhere should express their fellowship with their suffering
brethren by material gifts as well as by personal sympathy and by prayer."
He said he did not want to speak of political matters in a country with which
they desired to be friends, nor to attack the leadership of the great German
State. He asked the Assembly not to make any protest against a system, but to
record its deep distress at the suffering of Christians and Jews... <76>
What could members do? First of all they must not forget it, but let it be
printed on their memory and never rest while the distress was unhealed. They
must remember the needs of Jews and Christians alike. It was wrong to separate
the Jews and leave the Jews to the Jews and the Christians to the Christians.
They both made a deep appeal by their sufferings to all humanity and above all
to the Christian Church.'...
First of all they could pray for the sufferers; prayer from the heart availed
and was a great bond of fellowship. Next they could feel deeply for and with
them until something was done. Thirdly there was material help...
He asked for their (the Assembly's) help and for the help of their constituents
all over England and he asked for the awakening of conscience. They would not
forget and he could not forget that their Master was a Jew, a non-Aryan. They
thought in their hearts that if they saw their Master in sorrow they would wish
to help him, but it was right to remember the parable that their Master uttered
of judgment and what He said when He rebuked certain disciples: 'For I was an
hungered and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink: I was
a stranger and ye took me not in: naked and ye clothed me not: sick and in
prison and ye visited me not.' When the disciples in defending themselves
asked what he meant, the Master added: 'Verily I say unto you, in as much as
ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me'.
He was convinced that their attitude in England and in the Church of England to
the needs of those suffering non-Aryan Christians and members of the Jewish race
was the test of their attitude to their Master himself. It was because of that
that he felt so deeply and that he asked them to give their prayers and sympathy
and their material help.
The motion was carried. [191]
The Bishop of Chichester followed this move with a plea for more vigorous
Government action in his maiden speech in the House of Lords, on July 27, 1938.
He began with a strong condemnation of the Nazi persecution:
"I cannot understand - and I know many Germans - how our own kinsmen of the
German race can lower themselves to such a level of dishonour and cowardice as
to attack defenceless people in the way that the National-Socialists have
attacked the non-Aryans. <77>
He then pleaded with the Government to follow up the initiative of President
Roosevelt by increasing its facilities for training younger refugees in Great
Britain, by providing greater scope for settlement in the Colonies, and by
persuading the Dominions to open their doors more widely.
The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs assured him that the
Government would do what it could. But Dr. Bell remarked a few weeks later
in his Diocesan Gazette:
"It is almost as hard to understand the seeming apathy with which the fate of
the Jews and the non-Aryan Christians is being regarded by the people of the
British Empire...
These non-Aryans can no longer be called 'refugees' for they have as yet no
country of refuge. We emphasize the responsibility of the British Empire in
this connection, because the British Colonies and the British Dominions cover
the larger part of the whole available globe. It seems to us impossible, both
on the grounds of charity and on the grounds of statesmanship, that the doors
can remain forever shut." [192]
Resolutions adopted by the Presbyterian Church of England exposed the danger
of anti-Semitism existing in England in those days.
In 1937, the General Assembly stated:
"The Assembly notes with concern the attempts which have been made to create
racial antipathy against the Jews, with whom the Assembly expresses its
sympathy.
The Assembly expresses its conviction, that in a nation professing Christianity,
no discrimination on grounds of race must be recognised.
The Assembly urges that the freedom accorded by law in this country to
citizens of any faith to live in peace and pursue their lawful callings
shall be specially safeguarded.
The Assembly resolves to send a copy of this resolution to the Board of
Deputies of British Jews, and to the Home Secretary." [193]
In May, 1938, the General Assembly adopted the following Resolution:
"The Assembly urges its faithful people to encourage every effort to overcome
the evil spirit of anti-Semitism which thing we hate." <78>
There was hesitancy in the minds of some about the word 'hate', when the
Convener moved this resolution, but the Assembly overwhelmingly approved of
it. [194]
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland certainly did not mince words.
It declared in 1936:
"The General Assembly learn with profound regret that the past year has brought
no alleviation of the sufferings caused to the Jewish people by the inhuman
political, social and economic persecutions prevalent in Central and Eastern
Europe.
They protest against the religious intolerance, the narrow nationalism and
race-pride on which anti-semitic hatreds are based.
They call on the Christian people of Scotland, in loyalty to the law of Christ
and their own high traditions of liberty and toleration, to rid their minds of
all narrow anti-Jewish prejudice, and to broaden out their obedience to the
Gospel ever commanding peace and goodwill to all men.
The General Assembly again commend to the liberality of their faithful people
appeals made on behalf of refugee Jews from Germany and other lands, specially
remembering the Christians of Jewish race who are involved in the terrors of
persecution." [195]
In 1937, the General Assembly declared:
"The General Assembly renew in Christ's name their condemnation of the
unabated brutality still being dealt to the Jewish minorities in Central
and Eastern Europe, and lament that the protesting voice of the Christian
Church has been so barren of result.
They deprecate the attempts in certain parts of England to create antipathy
against the Jews." [196]
The statement adopted in May 1938, reads as follows:
"The General Assembly renew their protest against the virulence and cruelty of
the attacks still being directed against helpless Jewish minorities in Central
and Eastern Europe, and they affirm that no Church can be truly Christian and
anti-semitic at one and the same time." [197]
* * *
The first reaction to the horrors of the "Crystal Night" pogroms was a letter
of the Archbishop of Canterbury to "The Times":
"I believe that I speak for the Christian people of this country in giving
immediate expression to the feelings of indignation with which we have read
of the deeds of cruelty and destruction which were perpetrated last Thursday
in Germany and Austria. <79>
Whatever provocation may have been given by the deplorable act of a single
irresponsible Jewish youth, reprisals on such a scale, so fierce, cruel and
vindictive, cannot possibly be justified.
A sinister significance is added to them by the fact that the police seem
either to have acquiesced in them or to have been powerless to restrain them.
it is most distasteful to write these words just when there is in this country
a general desire to be on friendly terms with the German nation. But there are
times when the mere instincts of humanity make silence impossible. Would that
the rulers of the Reich could realize that such excesses of hatred and malice
put upon the friendship which we are ready to offer them an almost intolerable
strain. I trust that in our churches on Sunday and thereafter remembrance may
be made in our prayers of those who have suffered this fresh onset of
persecution and whose future seems to be so dark and hopeless." [198]
The Archbishop's letter expressed "feelings of indignation", but also
reflected the spirit of appeasement: the British Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain had signed the Munich agreement with Hitler, only six weeks
before.
On November 16, 1938, during the Autumn Session of the Church Assembly, the
Bishop of Chichester pleaded that help should be given to Christian refugees
of Jewish origin. In January 1939, he was to urge "to aid the entire mass of
non-Aryans". Now the tendency still was to stress the help to Christians of
Jewish origin, not to the Jews in general.
There was one notable exception, in which Jews and Christians jointly took
action, without asking themselves whether the persons to be helped were Jews
or Christians. Lord Gorell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be
joint Chairman (with Lord Samuel) of the "Movement for the Care of Children
from Germany", in February 1938.
This movement succeeded in bringing over 9,354 children from Germany to
England. Roughly nine-tenths were Jewish, and one-tenth Christian children.
<80>
"Where a Jewish child was received in a Christian home - which occurred
frequently - it was prescribed by the Movement, and accepted by the
foster-parents, that there should be no attempt to proselytise.
The nearest Rabbi, or Jewish teacher, was put in touch with the child,
and if personal contact was not possible, instruction was arranged by
correspondence. The last transports of the children from Germany reached
England a few days after the outbreak of the war." [201]
A Joint Statement was issued by British Church leaders, in April 1939:
"In making the following statement, we, the undersigned, - the Archbishop
of York; Dr. Jas. Black, Moderator of the Church of Scotland; the Bishop
of Edinburgh; Dr. S.M. Berry, Congregational Union of England and Wales
and Federal Council of Free Churches; the Rev. M.E. Aubrey, Baptist Union
of Great Britain and Ireland, - feel that we are giving expression to
the convictions of a large number of Christians in Great Britain:
1. We believe that the following is an essential and basic principle of all
true civilization: Religious freedom, freedom of opinion and action in
accordance with religious beliefs, provided that social order is in no
way endangered thereby; legal equality for all, independently of social
position or race..." [202]
In November, 1938, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland wrote a letter
to the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, who replied as follows:
London, 24th Nov. 1938/5699.
Dear Dr. Black,
"I am indeed touched by your letter of the 18th inst. conveying to me on
behalf of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the deep horror
of the suffering inflicted on the Jewish people throughout Europe.
In the agony through which hundreds of thousands of my coreligionists are
now passing, it is fortifying to read your strong repudiation of all
persecution as unchristian, inhuman and pagan; and to learn that the love
of God, love of fellow-man, and love of freedom rule with undiminished
strength in little, but great Scotland.
I should be glad if you would kindly convey to the General Assembly the deep
felt thanks of my community for their kind expression of Christian sympathy
with the suffering of Israel.
The General Assembly commented: <81>
"It is now the duty of the Church to contrive that the wave of sympathy shall
not ebb, but, while it is on the flow, shall be turned into the only channel,
which, as we believe, reaches the heart of the Jewish problem. The immediate
duty, however, is to direct sympathy towards practical and generous action with
regard to the gigantic Refugee problem which confronts the free peoples of the
world..." [203]
The following statement was issued by the Conference of the Methodist Church in
Ireland, in June 1939:
"The Conference notes with grave concern the growth of anti-Semitism in Europe
and America, and expresses its profound conviction that this tendency is
directly contrary to the spirit of Christianity.
It views with horror the treatment now being meted out to men, women and
children in Germany on purely racial grounds, and regards with apprehension the
possibility of the spread of such policy to other countries.
It commands to the sacrificial sympathy of the Church, the efforts being made on
behalf of non-Aryan Refugees both in Eire and in Northern Ireland, and suggests
that they offer a most effective method of bearing Christian testimony against
the terrible divisions of the present hour." [204]
17 THE UNITED STATES
Protestant Churches in America have protested against racial discrimination
in general. We only record, however, the resolutions and statements, which
expressly denounced anti-Semitism.
On March 22, 1933, American Christian clergymen and laymen appealed to the
German people to put an end to the persecution of Jews. They urged preachers
throughout the United States to rally their congregations on the following
Sunday for a united stand against Hitlerism. The summons to the Churches was
sponsored by the Interfaith Committee and signed by Bishop Manning
(Episcopalian), Mr. Al Smith, the former Governor of New York State (a Roman
Catholic), and others equally prominent. [205] <82>
On March 28, 1933, a mass meeting was held in New York, Madison Square Garden,
attended by 20,000 persons, as a protest against anti-Semitic activities in
Germany. 38,000 swarmed round the building to hear the voice of speakers
brought to them through amplifiers. The meeting followed a day of fasting and
prayer with similar protests being staged in 300 other cities. Former Governor
Alfred Smith, Bishop William T. Manning, and Senator Robert F. Wagner were
among the speakers. [206]
On May 26, 1933, a Manifesto signed by 1200 Protestant ministers from 42 States
of the United States and Canada was published:
"We Christian ministers are greatly distressed at the situation of our Jewish
brethren in Germany. In order to leave no room for doubt as to our feelings
on this subject, we consider it an imperative duty to raise our voices in
indignant and sorrowful protest against the pitiless persecution to which
the Jews are subjected under Hitler's rule.
We realize full well that there are religious and racial prejudices in America,
against which we have repeatedly protested and for this very reason we all
the more deeply deplore the retrogression which has supervened in Germany
where so much had been achieved while we in America were still fighting for
human rights.
For many weeks we have waited, refusing to believe all the reports concerning
a State policy against the Jews. But now that we possess the irrefutable
testimony of facts, we can no longer remain silent. Hitler had long vowed
implacable hatred against the Jews. One of the fundamental Nazi doctrines is
that Jews are poisonous germs in German blood and must therefore be treated as
a scourge. Hitler's followers now apply this doctrine. They systematically
pursue a 'Cold Pogrom' of inconceivable cruelty against our Jewish brethren,
dismissing them from important positions they had occupied, depriving them
of civil and economic rights, and deliberately condemning those who survive
to a life without legal protection, - as outcasts, threatening them with
massacre should they make the slightest protest. We are convinced that the
efforts made by Nazis to humiliate an entire section of the human family,
are liable to cast the civilized world back into the clutches of mediaeval
barbarism.
We deplore the consequences which may ensue for the Jews and also for
Christianity which tolerates this barbarous persecution, and, more
particularly, for Germany herself. We are convinced that in thus protesting
against Hitler's cruel anti-Semitism we are acting as sincere friends of
the German nation." [207] <83>
Speaking of their "Jewish brethren in Germany", those 1200 Protestant
ministers apparently had in mind the Jews of Germany in general, not just
the Christians of Jewish origin.
* * *
The next statement to be recorded in this chapter was issued by the Federal
Council of the Churches of Christ in America. This organization represented
the great majority of American Protestants. The total membership of Churches
affiliated with it was, in 1941-1942: 25,551.560.
The Executive Committee of the Federal Council published the following
statement in November 1935:
"At a recent meeting of protest against the treatment at present inflicted
on Jews in Germany, the Assembly of the Church of England expressed the hope
that other Christian bodies would join in this protest. We feel constrained
to do so.
We are members of churches which have numerous and close bonds of union with
the German church. We recognise our indebtedness to the great German preachers
and teachers of Christianity, who have done so much to enrich our common
heritage from the days of Luther to the present day. After the last war
we protested strongly against the limitations to which Germany was subjected
by the Treaty of Versailles and made constant efforts for their suppression.
For this very reason we consider it our duty to speak equally freely now that
Germany is pursuing a policy, which threatens her with moral isolation.
We protest against this policy because the treatment of the Jews is unworthy
of a great nation. To treat a considerable part of the population as being
essentially inferior for racial reasons only, and to impose restrictions on the
normal life of persons whose families have lived in Germany for generations,
and who have rendered eminent services in the realms of education, art,
and government, is to violate the codes of honour and good faith which are the
common property of civilized nations.
But our reason for protesting goes far deeper. We protest against this policy
because the philosophy on which it is based is a heathen philosophy. Founded
on a religious interpretation of race, the actual treatment inflicted on
the Jews raises far greater problems than any former persecutions of Jews and
other minorities, which were founded on political and incidental considerations.
It is an attempt of a tribal heathen movement, based on race, blood, and soil,
to separate Christianity from its historical origin and a Christian nation
from its religious past.
All the different branches of the Christian Church are, therefore, in duty bound
to protest, not only in the name of the human brotherhood, but also in the name
of our Christian faith. [208] <84>
The meeting of protest mentioned at the beginning of this statement was held
on November 20, 1935. [209] The response of the Federal Council came very
promptly indeed. International contacts between Churches were a factor the
importance of which can hardly be overestimated.
Dr. Charles S. Macfarland, the then General Secretary of the Federal Council,
had had a personal interview with Hitler in the autumn of 1933. Before accepting
Hitler's invitation to call, he was warned that no one was even permitted
to mention the Jewish issue to him. Dr. Macfarland, however, had made it clear
that he was not going there to discuss Tennyson or Browning and that he would
have to be permitted to choose his own subjects. Word came that "His Excellency
desired me to talk freely with him". Dr. Macfarland relates:
"I told Herr Hitler that, in my judgment, the German Evangelical Church could
not and would not yield itself to his polito-social theory, including his
so-called Aryan laws, and that if it did, it would not only cut itself off
from the Christian churches of the world, but would cease to be Christian..."
[209]
Dr. Macfarland followed up this conversation by correspondence. In one letter
he wrote that the near complete hostility of the American people was deeply
ethical in nature and could be modified only by two processes:
1. "A constructive measure of justice in dealing with the Jews in Germany,
stopping all continuation of the boycott, conferring with leading Jews of
high character, and, while still recognizing the social problem involved,
endeavouring to secure needed readjustments by friendly measures and,
above all, restoring neighbourly good feeling between Jewish rabbis and
Christian pastors and among Jews and non-Jews who live side by side...
I also hope that, by a final settlement of the Jewish problem which will do
full justice, this barrier between the German people and the peoples of the
world may be removed." [210] <85>
Apparently Hitler did not underestimate the influence of the American
Churches: he replied to Dr. Macfarland's letters, stating that he wished
"to promote the unity of the Church", that he accepted one of these letters
"in the same spirit in which it was written" and that he thanked Dr.
Macfarland for his "candid and sympathetic appeal". [211]
On June 2, 1937, however, Dr. Macfarland published an open letter to Hitler,
from which we quote the following:
"You especially demarcated the church's "confession" as a sacred ground on
which the State could not and would not intrude, and I handed you a
memorandum calling attention to the fact that by that confession the church
was supernatural, supernational and superracial and that the so-called 'Aryan
paragraph' cut right across the confession; that if the church accepted it,
it would make a breach between the church in Germany and the 'positive
Christianity' for which you declared you stood.
As previously mentioned, you replied to later correspondence that you
accepted my appeal 'in the spirit in which it was given'. That appeal was
for a constructive measure of justice in dealing with the Jews in Germany,
stopping all continuation of the boycott, conferring with leading Jews of
high character and, while still recognizing the social problem involved,
endeavouring to secure needed readjustments by friendly measures and, above
all, restoring neighbourly good feeling between Jewish rabbis and Christian
pastors and among Jews and non-Jews who live side by side'. And I added:
'I hope that this barrier between the German people and the peoples of the
world may be removed'... What now are the results of my continued study and
how do they appear in the light of your earnest assurances?...
Instead of doing justice to the Jews, you have permitted them to be harassed
and despoiled. Your treatment of them has been ruthless, without the slightest
appearance of mercy, even reminding one of the infamous edict of Herod in
stretching the hand of violence to the littlest child.
Your attitude toward the little handful of Jews in Germany and your so-called
Aryan and Nordic ideas have had no little effect in confusing members of the
Evangelical Church, so that, in this way, you divided instead of fulfilling
'the desire you expressed to me of uniting the church. You undermined the most
basic ideal of Christianity, on which unity alone could be secured...
I have been reading a paper called Der Stuermer. Not only does it explicitly
teach and urge hate-hate-hate, but does it in forms whose viciousness never
would be believed by one who had not seen it. The language in this paper is
too vile for repetition, and its falsehoods are obvious to any ordinarily
informed person who knows Germany. The best that one can say of the
illustrations is to hope that they emanate from a disordered, rather than
a depraved mind..." [212] <86>
I think that, if Dr. Macfarland had been a citizen of my country (the
Netherlands), legal proceedings might have been instituted against him in
those days, for "public offence to the Head of a friendly State".
The Home Missions Council, early in December 1937, issued a special Christmas
message concerning Jewish and Christian relations which it addressed to all
Christians of North America. We quote the following from this message:
"As Christians of the United States and Canada we desire to express to those
Jews who are the victims of injustice and abuse our sincere sympathy, and we
emphatically declare that such conduct is utterly alien to the teaching and
spirit of the faith we profess and an affront to all our ideals of civil
liberty and justice." [213]
* * *
The Executive Committee of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America
proposed to set aside November 20, 1938, as "the occasion when prayer will be
sought in the United States for refugees, both Christian and Jewish". [214]
The officials of both the Roman Catholic Church and Jewish Organizations,
following the example set by the Federal Council, designated the same date for
a period of prayer and intercession. The Governors of about a score of States
issued statements or proclamations urging citizens to repair to their places
of worship on that day for united prayer for the suffering. The day of prayer
was widely observed in all parts of the country and in all the churches. [215]
The Executive of the Federal Council had issued "an appeal to all church people
to respond generously to the efforts for the relief of refugees as carried on
by the American Committee for Christian German Refugees and also by the Catholic
and Jewish organizations". [216]
When the first reports of the new measures of oppression and persecution
of the Jews in Germany appeared in the press, the Federal Council's office
invited outstanding Christians, both ministers and laymen, to express their
views and give wide publicity to them. <87>
Among the lay voices, which were most widely heard across the nation was that
of Honourable Herbert Hoover, who, in a message telegraphed to the Federal
Council, gave expression to the sympathy of all thoughtful Christian people.
A statement of Dr. Edgar De Witt Jones of Detroit, President of the Federal
Council, was also quoted in all parts of the country. [217]
On the evening of November 13, 1938, the Federal Council of Churches sponsored
a national broadcast over the Columbia Broadcasting System in which Christian
sympathy was again expressed and carried to every part of the nation.
There also was a national broadcast under the auspices of the National
Conference of Jews and Christians, on November 20, 1938. [218]
On January 9, 1939, a petition on behalf of German refugee children was left
for President Roosevelt at the White House by a deputation of clergymen. The
petition was signed by leaders of the Catholic and Protestant Churches.
It read as follows:
"The American people has made clear its reaction to the oppression of all
minority groups, religious and racial, throughout Germany. It has been
especially moved by the plight of the children.
Every heart has been touched, and the nation has spoken out its sorrow and
dismay through the voices of its statesmen, teachers and religious leaders.
Americans have felt that protest, however vigorous and sympathy, however deep,
are not enough, and that these must translate themselves into such action
as shall justify faith.
We have been stirred by the knowledge that Holland and England have opened
their doors and their homes to many of these children. We conceive it to be
our duty, in the name of the American tradition and the religious spirit
common to our nation to urge the people, by its Congress and Executive, to
express sympathy through special treatment of the young, robbed of country,
homes and parents.
A heartening token of the mood of America is to be found in the fact that
thousands of Americans of all faiths have made known their eagerness to take
these young children into their homes, without burden or obligation to the
State.
Working within and under the laws of Congress, through special enactment if
necessary, the nation can offer sanctuary to a part of these children by
united expression of its will to help. <88>
To us it seems that the duty of Americans in dealing with the youthful
victims of a regime which punishes innocent and tender children as if they
were offenders, is to remember the admonition of Him who said, 'Suffer little
children to come unto me'. And in that spirit we call on all Americans to
join together without regard to race, religion or creed in offering refuge
to children as a token of our sympathy and as a symbol of our faith in the
ideals of human brotherhood." [220]
Senator Robert F. Wagner, attempting to implement the clergymen's proposal,
introduced a resolution in the Senate. Known as the Child Refugee Bill, it
proposed that a maximum of ten thousand children under the age of fourteen
be admitted in 1939, and a similar number in 1940. Their entry would be
considered apart from and in addition to the regular German quota. [221]
The Executive of the Federal Council supported the Bill:
"In the extraordinary circumstances which have created the problem of Jewish
and Christian refugees from Germany, we feel that it is not enough to call
upon other nations to help or to voice our protests but some such practical
step as the one here contemplated is imperative and will do much to facilitate
a larger approach to the problem of which it is but one part." [222]
On July 1, 1939, the proposed Bill was modified: the twenty thousand childrens'
visas would be issued against the German quota, not in excess of them.
Senator Wagner, realizing that the twenty thousand children's visas might
become twenty thousand death warrants for adults they would replace,
withdrew his proposal. [223] <89>
In March 1939, the Federal Council urged the United States to continue to
provide asylum for refugees of other countries in the face of any legislative
proposals to suspend immigration or curtail existing quotas. Declaring that
the Churches were deeply concerned with the refugee problem and that "as
Christians we have responsibility for suffering human beings as children
of our common Father wherever they may be", the Council said:
"We, therefore, urge our government to maintain its historic policy of
friendliness to refugees. We oppose legislative proposals, which would
suspend immigration at this time or curtail the established quotas."
In its objection to any change in the immigration policy the Council pointed
out that refugees "would be consumers as well as producers" and added:
"However, even if they were not an economic asset as well as a liability,
we would still have a Christian responsibility to them." [224]
In April 1939, the National Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church issued
the following Resolution on behalf of aid to refugees:
"In view of the persecution of minorities now taking place in Europe, we,
as Christians and members of the National Council of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, and in keeping with the traditional spirit of our country, reaffirm
our conviction that the United States should continue to show its spint of
generosity and hospitality in opening its doors to afflicted people.
We commend the program, as prepared by the Episcopal Committee on German
Refugees, to the interest and support of all members of the Church, reminding
ourselves of our Lord's admonition: 'in as much as ye have done it unto the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me'."
The program prepared by the Committee on German Refugees called for
co-operation with local refugee committees in helping to obtain employment,
in placing children in homes and in obtaining affidavits of support for
individual immigrants. [225]
To the best of my knowledge, there is no other country in which Churches and
Church leaders in those days so unequivocally demanded asylum for the refugees.
So far we have recorded actions and statements on behalf of the refugees only.
The following statements also denounced anti-Semitism in Germany and/or in the
United States. <90>
The Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. stated, at the end of 1938:
"... We are deeply shocked at the continuance of persecutions based on race
in Germany, Austria, Rumania and other nations.
We sympathize with our Jewish brethren in the United States, many of whose
relatives are the innocent victims of fanatical hatred abroad.
We commend the National Conference of Jews and Christians for all its
labour to the end that race murders and race discriminations shall not happen
here..." [226]
In its Bulletin (February, 1939) the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ
published the following article:
The Christian Attitude towards Anti-Semitism
Every thoughtful Christian must gratefully acknowledge his spiritual
indebtedness to the Hebrews. We Christians have inherited the ethical and
religious insights of Israel. We hold them with a difference - at one point
with a momentous difference - but we can never forget that the historic
roots of our faith are in the Hebrew people.
From Israel we inherit the Ten Commandments, which are still our basic moral
standards. From Israel we inherit the priceless treasure of the Psalms, which
are an essential part of Christian worship around the world. From Israel we
inherit the vision of social justice which has come to us through Amos and
Isaiah and Micah. From Israel we inherit even our own unique Christian classic,
the New Testament, nearly all of which (if not all) was written by Jews.
A Christian who faces the modem world must also be conscious of a present
spiritual kinship with his Jewish neighbours to whom their religious heritage
is still a vital force. That kinship is grounded in our common faith in the
ultimate spiritual foundations of the universe. Over against those who adhere
to a materialistic philosophy of life and a mechanistic conception of human
destiny, we recognize ourselves as at one with the Jews in the first sublime
affirmation of the Pentateuch: 'In the beginning God'. Over against current
disillusionment and despair Christian and Hebrew stand together in their
belief in the one Holy God Who is the Creator of all and whose righteous
will gives meaning and direction to life.
A Christian who knows anything of history must also speak a word of confession.
For he cannot help recalling how grievously the Jewish people have suffered at
the hands of men who called themselves Christians. The record of the treatment
of Jews in Europe through long centuries is one which Christians of to-day
view with penitence and sorrow.
One has also regretfully to admit that the day of cruel treatment of the Jews
by some who call themselves Christians is not yet a thing of the past. Even in
our own country there are misguided groups which circulate statements that
spread a poison of mistrust and hate which is antithetical to the true genius
both of America and of the Christian religion. Anti-Semitism is inherently
un-Christian, contrary to the plain teaching and spirit of our Lord, and it
can be asserted with confidence that an intolerant attitude towards the Jews
is opposed by the great body of American Christians... <91>
But everything which has happened since shows that what started as a movement
against the Jews turns out to be a movement against Christianity also... [227]
In May 1939, the Commissioners of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in the U.S.A. stated:
"... We confess the sins of our country in this respect. We condemn the
attacks on Jews and Christians and other minority groups throughout the world.
We would be lacking in a sense of common morality and decency if we did not
express our strong disapproval of such an outrageous assault by any government
upon an innocent and defenceless people.
We urge our government to continue its efforts to make generous arrangement
for the settlement of refugees, so continuing our national tradition of being
an asylum for the oppressed of all the nations." [228]
The General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, attended by 200 pastors
and delegates, adopted (June, 1939) the social welfare report which said in
part:
"The failure of the Church to recognize the Jew has behind it a record of
misunderstanding, intolerance and spiritual malpractice that has been unequaled
in dealing with any other people.
Even America is not free from the blight of anti-Jewish prejudice. Both Jew
and Gentile are responsible for existing conditions and both must co-operate
for their betterment. Christians must rebuke all anti-Semitism...
Third, in reference to the refugee problem, a linking up of our efforts and
agencies with all others in more adequately caring for those who are so greatly
in need. Fourth, a wholehearted endorsement of the legislation permitting
10,000 children (refugees) to be received each year for two years." [229]
18 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF CHURCHES
The World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches was
constituted at Constance, in 1914, at the eve of the first world war. Its
supreme body, the International Council, was composed of some 145 members
appointed by the various National Councils. <92>
In some countries, especially on the continent of Europe, the National
Councils worked in close relation with ecclesiastical authorities; in most
areas, however, they remained entirely independent agencies, based on the
personal adhesion of their members.
The Executive Council of the "World Alliance", at its meeting in Sofia, 1933,
unanimously adopted the following Resolution:
"... We especially deplore the fact that the State measures against the Jews
in Germany have had such an effect on public opinion that in some circles the
Jewish race is considered a race of inferior status.
We protest against the resolution of the Prussian General Synod and other
Synods [230] which apply the Aryan paragraph of the State to the Church,
putting serious disabilities upon ministers and church officers who by
chance of birth are non-Aryans, which we believe to be a denial of the
explicit teaching and spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." [231]
The International Council of the "World Alliance", at its meeting in Chamby
(August, 1935), adopted the following Resolution:
"In view of the pitiable situation of refugees and stateless persons in
Europe, having regard to the policy of expulsion which is being pursued by
the majority of the European States, to the inadequacy of the measures for
providing refugees with valid identification papers and residence and
labour permits, and recognising the fact that a turn for the better cannot
be attained by legislation undertaken by individual States but only on the
basis of international agreements, the World Alliance most warmly welcomes
the initiative taken by the Norwegian Government which, in the spirit of
Fritjof Nansen, has proposed to place the situation of the refugees upon
the agenda of the next plenary assembly of the League of Nations.
It expresses the hope that in this way it will be possible to secure for
refugees and stateless persons a minimum of individual rights and, by the
setting up of a central organisation for refugees, within the framework of
the League of Nations, to provide a basis for the settlement of the problem.
In order to make this resolution effective, the World Alliance resolves:
a. to bring the text of this resolution of the Norwegian Government to the
knowledge of the General Secretary of the League of Nations and of all
States members of the League of Nations;
b. to request the Churches and organisations affiliated to the World
Alliance in the different countries to make representations to their
governments in the spirit of the resolution before the next meeting of
the League of Nations in order to obtain the support of these governments
for the Norwegian initiative." [232] <93>
Another International Organization of Churches, more influential than the
"World Alliance", was the Ecumenical Council for Life and Work, which had
its first world conference in 1925, in Stockholm, and its second in 1937,
in Oxford. Its purpose was "to stimulate Christian action in society".
Its President, Dr. George Bell (Bishop of Chichester) wrote a letter to Dr.
Kapler, President of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Germany,
dated May 17, 1933:
"... We do not wish to enter into political questions, nor indeed is it
our business to do so. At the same time it would not be fair to disguise
from our friends in Germany that certain recent events, especially the
action taken against the Jews, have caused and continue to cause us anxiety
and distress; and we feel that we ought to share our concern with you
here..." [233]
The annual meeting of Life and Work was held at Novi Sad, in Yugoslavia,
on 9-12 September, 1933. A German delegation under the leadership of Dr.
Heckel, who supported Hitler's policy, was present at the meeting.
The minutes record that representatives of other Churches had expressed
grave anxiety over the severe action taken against people of Jewish origin.
[234]
Bishop Bell proposed that, in addition to this, he should write a letter to
the leaders of the German Church. This proposal was adopted unanimously.
Only Dr. Heckel abstained from voting.
Bishop Bell wrote this letter to the German Reich Bishop Mueller, on
October 23, 1933. He referred to two features, which were gravely disturbing
to the Christian conscience, namely, the adoption of the Aryan Paragraph
by the Prussian Church Synod [235] and certain other Synods, and the forcible
suppression of minority opinion.
Mueller's reply of 8 December was intended to be reassuring. The enactment
of the Aryan Paragraph had been stopped, and he hoped for an opportunity
when they might discuss together the problems of race, the state, and
international order. [236]
The Executive Committee of the Ecumenical Council of Life and Work at Novi
Sad issued the following "Appeal on Behalf of German Refugees" in November,
1933: <94>
"A new appeal is hereby addressed to Christians, at this Christmastide.
It is an appeal to help those who are suffering because there is no place
for them in Germany: Jews, Christians of Jewish origin and political
refugees. They are dispersed in Palestine and in different lands of Europe.
They are in a deplorable situation and a great number of them are destitute...
The gifts of the Churches will constitute a welcome proof of that truly
ecumenical and Christian spirit which, beyond all differences of race and
class, regards every man as a brother."
George Cicestr, President of the Ecumenical Council for Life and Work;
Germanos, Archbishop of Thyatira, Co-President; W.A. Brown, President of
the Administrative Committee; Waldemar Ammundsen, Interim President
of the European Section; Wilfred Monod, Vice President. [237]
* * *
The International Missionary Council was organized in 1921, to co-ordinate
missionary work throughout the world. Its "Committee on the Christian
Approach to the Jews" met at Vienna, 28 June-2 July, 1937. A report of the
Subcommittee on Anti-Semitism and the Church was submitted, and adopted
in the following form:
"We desire to record our conviction that in contemporary anti-Semitism we
face an extraordinary menace against which all Christians must be warned.
All forms of hatred and persecution must be deplored by Christians, and
their victims must be succoured; but there exists to-day a type of racial
anti-Semitic propaganda inspired by hatred of everything springing from
Jewish sources; and this creates more crucial issues for Christianity than
ordinary outbursts of race feeling.
Christian Churches must be warned that they cannot be silent in the presence
of this propaganda, still less connive at or participate in the extension
of its errors and falsehoods, without betraying Christ, undermining the
basis of the Church, and incurring the most severe judgment of God.
The Christian Church must let no doubt about this attitude prevail in
the eyes of the world. Realizing that enmity to the Jews has now become
a cloak for the forces of anti-Christ, and conceals hatred for Christ
and His Gospel, the Christian Church must reject anti-Semitism with
complete conviction. <95>
To realize its true nature and to vindicate its right to the title of
the 'Body of Christ', the Church must preach the Gospel and open its
fellowship to men of all race, including the Jews. Our mission to the
Jews cannot consistently be carried out without at the same time combating
anti-Semitism among Christians,
and giving more tangible evidence than has been given of our sympathy with
Jews and Hebrew Christians in their present distress.
Anti-Semitism can and should be combated systematically:
1. By suitable literature, capable of influencing specially wide classes,
also by sustained treatment in Christian Reviews and newspapers.
2. By occasional conversations, discussions, and lectures, on the destiny
and the hope of the people of Israel.
3. By sincere and friendly discussion between Jews and Christians.
4. By the realization among Christians of the treasures committed to them
(Christianizing of Christians)." [238]
The same Committee submitted the following resolution to the Oxford
Conference, in 1937:
"The International Committee on the Christian Approach to the Jews desires
to lay before the Oxford Conference on Church and Community and State the
problem of Anti-Semitism.
The fact of Anti-Semitism is proved, by the ample material in the
possession of the Committee to be of growing importance and menace in
the world. It constitutes one of the principal denials of modern life
of the Christian doctrine of man. It is an attack upon the unity of
the Una Sancta, it is even a denial of the person of Christ Himself.
It has been largely instrumental in aggravating existing economic and
social strains until they have become intolerable. The human misery
created, maintained and at the same time concealed by the influence
of Anti-Semitism is difficult to estimate. Graver, however, than the
volume of human misery is the poisoning of the spirit, the drying up
of sympathy and the warping of judgment caused by the influence of
Anti-Semitism, especially among the young. Deepest of all is the denial
which Anti-Semitism offers to the Unity of the Church, and to the meaning
of the Person of Christ Himself.
The Committee would further ask the Conference to consider the terrible
fact that this problem is not, like many on the Conference will consider,
that of an influence external to the Christian Church with which it must
make its account, but also of an evil within the Church.
Anti-Semitism antedates Christianity and it is not suggested that it is
a purely Christian phenomenon, but it is aided by false Christian teaching
and it results in the appalling situation, present in several countries
where Christian Churches are reluctant, or frankly refuse, to receive a
Jewish convert. <96>
It is plain that where racial and physical conditions of church membership
override the conversion of heart and will, the Christian religion has
ceased to exist except in a vain form. But this devitalising influence is
present within the Church, not only in one country but in many, and far more
widely than is suspected.
The Committee therefore invites the Oxford Conference to do two things: in
the first place, realizing that the Conference can make its voice heard
widely among the Churches of all lands it begs the Conference to speak out
clearly on the dangers of Anti-Semitism to the Church itself and to
recognize openly the total impossibility of a Church tainted with this
form of racial absolutism bearing any valid witness to the word of God
in the world.
Secondly, it asks that in any provision that is made after the Conference
for international Christian study of the great problems that confront the
Church in the modem world, attention shall be given to this problem of
Anti-Semitism. The International Committee which has already collected a
certain amount of information on the subject would gladly co-operate in
such a study." [239]
The Oxford Conference (July, 1937), organized by "Life and Work", was an
event of major importance. [240]
The 425 regular members of the Conference included 300 delegates officially
appointed by the Churches, representing 120 communions in forty countries,
and constituting a cross-section of Christendom, with the exception of
the Roman Catholic Church; only some personal observers from that
Communion were present by invitation.
Not less than 300 delegates came from the United States and the British
Common-wealth. The Orthodox Churches and the Lesser Eastern Churches
were represented by some two score dignitaries and scholars.
This delegation represented the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchates
of Alexandria and Antioch, the Churches of Cyprus, Greece, Rumania,
Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, the Russian Church in Exile, the Coptic
Orthodox Church, the Armenian Church, and the Church of the Assyrians.
<97>
German Church leaders had taken a prominent part in the preparations for
the Conference, but the German secret police had seized the passports of
leading members of the Confessing Church, including those of Dibelius and
Niemoeller, who had been chosen as delegates to Oxford. On July 1, 1937,
before the Conference opened, Niemoeller was arrested. Other delegates of
the Confessing Church who still retained their passports decided that,
unless all the representatives of the Confessing Church were allowed to
attend, none of them would come, thereby demonstrating their unity. [241]
The German authorities must have realized that the absence of the leaders
of the Confessing Church would make a bad impression on world opinion,
but apparently they were also aware that the position of Niemoeller and
his friends would have been strengthened, if they had been able to attend
the Conference.
The Oxford Conference sent a "Message to the Churches of Christ throughout
the World". We quote the following:
"The Christian sees distinctions of race as part of God's purpose to enrich
mankind with a diversity of gifts. Against racial pride or race-antagonism
the Church must set its face implacably as rebellion against God. Especially
in its own life and worship there can be no place for barriers because of
race or colour.
Similarly the Christian accepts national communities as part of God's
purpose to enrich and diversify human life. Every man is called of God to
serve his fellows in the community to which he belongs. But national
egotism tending to the suppression of other nationalities or of minorities
is, no less than individual egotism, a sin against the Creator of all
peoples and races.
The deification of nation, race, or class, or of political or cultural
ideals, is idolatry, and can only lead to increasing division and
disaster." [242]
We also quote the following from the Oxford Conference's "Longer Report
on Church and Community":