Editing Nazi Germany (section)

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Kirchenkampf}}
{{See also|Religion in Nazi Germany}}
When the Nazis seized power in 1933, roughly 67 per cent of the population of Germany was [[Protestant]], 33 per cent was [[Roman Catholic]], while [[Jews]] made up less than 1 per cent.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=222}}{{sfn|USHMM, ''The German Churches and the Nazi State''}} According to the 1939 census, taken following the annexation of Austria, 54 per cent of the population considered themselves Protestant, 40 per cent Roman Catholic, 3.5 per cent ''[[Gottgläubig]]'' (God-believing; a Nazi religious movement) and 1.5 per cent [[nonreligious]].{{sfn|Ericksen|Heschel|1999|p=10}} Nazi Germany extensively employed Christian imagery and instituted a variety of new Christian celebrations, such as a massive celebration marking the 1200th anniversary of the birth of Frankish emperor [[Charlemagne]], who [[Christianisation of the Germanic peoples|Christianized neighbouring continental Germanic peoples]] by force.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=534–538}} Nazi propaganda stylised Hitler as a [[Christ]]-like [[messiah]], a "figure of redemption according to the Christian model", "who would liberate the world from the Antichrist".{{sfn|Schreiner|1998|pp=345–346}}

Under the ''[[Gleichschaltung]]'' process, Hitler attempted to create a [[United and uniting churches|unified]] [[Protestant Reich Church]] from Germany's 28 existing Protestant [[Landeskirche|state churches]].{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=237}} Pro-Nazi [[Ludwig Müller]] was installed as Reich Bishop and the pro-Nazi pressure group [[German Christians (movement)|German Christians]] gained control of the new church.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=234–238}} They objected to the [[Old Testament]] because of its Jewish origins and demanded that converted Jews be barred from their church.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=220–230}} Pastor [[Martin Niemöller]] responded with the formation of the [[Confessing Church]], from which some clergymen opposed the Nazi regime.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=295–297}} When in 1935 the Confessing Church synod protested the Nazi policy on religion, 700 of their pastors were arrested.{{sfn|Berben|1975|p=140}} Müller resigned and Hitler appointed [[Hanns Kerrl]] as Minister for Church Affairs to continue efforts to control Protestantism.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=238–239}} In 1936, a Confessing Church envoy protested to Hitler against the religious persecutions and human rights abuses.{{sfn|Berben|1975|p=140}} Hundreds more pastors were arrested.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=238–239}} The church continued to resist and by early 1937 Hitler abandoned his hope of uniting the Protestant churches.{{sfn|Berben|1975|p=140}} Niemöller was arrested on 1 July 1937 and spent most of the next seven years in [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]] and Dachau.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=239}} Theological universities were closed and pastors and theologians of other Protestant denominations were also arrested.{{sfn|Berben|1975|p=140}}

[[File:Prisoner's barracks dachau.jpg|thumb|Prisoner barracks at [[Dachau Concentration Camp]], where the Nazis established a dedicated [[Priest Barracks of Dachau Concentration Camp|clergy barracks]] for clerical opponents of the regime in 1940{{sfn|Berben|1975|pp=276–277}}|alt=]]
Persecution of the [[Catholic Church in Germany]] followed the Nazi takeover.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=332}} Hitler moved quickly to eliminate [[political Catholicism]], rounding up functionaries of the Catholic-aligned [[Bavarian People's Party]] and [[Catholic Centre Party]], which along with all other non-Nazi political parties ceased to exist by July.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=290}} The ''[[Reichskonkordat]]'' (Reich Concordat) treaty with the Vatican was signed in 1933, amid continuing harassment of the church in Germany.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=295}} The treaty required the regime to honour the independence of Catholic institutions and prohibited clergy from involvement in politics.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=234–235}} Hitler routinely disregarded the Concordat, closing all Catholic institutions whose functions were not strictly religious.{{sfn|Gill|1994|p=57}} Clergy, nuns and lay leaders were targeted, with thousands of arrests over the ensuing years, often on trumped-up charges of currency smuggling or immorality.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=234–235}} Several Catholic leaders were targeted in the 1934 [[Night of the Long Knives]] assassinations.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=315}}{{sfn|Conway|2001|p=92}} Most Catholic youth groups refused to dissolve themselves and Hitler Youth leader [[Baldur von Schirach]] encouraged members to attack Catholic boys in the streets.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=226, 237}} Propaganda campaigns claimed the church was corrupt, restrictions were placed on public meetings and Catholic publications faced censorship. Catholic schools were required to reduce religious instruction and crucifixes were removed from state buildings.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=239–240}}

[[Pope Pius XI]] had the ''"[[Mit brennender Sorge]]"'' ("With Burning Concern") encyclical smuggled into Germany for [[Passion Sunday]] 1937 and read from every pulpit as it denounced the systematic hostility of the regime toward the church.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=234–235}}{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=241–243}} In response, Goebbels renewed the regime's crackdown and propaganda against Catholics. Enrolment in denominational schools dropped sharply and by 1939 all such schools were disbanded or converted to public facilities.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=245–246}} Later Catholic protests included the 22 March 1942 pastoral letter by the German bishops on "The Struggle against Christianity and the Church".{{sfn|Fest|1996|p=377}} About 30 per cent of Catholic priests were disciplined by police during the Nazi era.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=244}}{{sfn|USHMM, ''Dachau''}} A vast security network spied on clergy and priests were frequently denounced, arrested or sent to concentration camps – many to the dedicated [[Priest Barracks of Dachau Concentration Camp|clergy barracks]] at Dachau.{{sfn|Berben|1975|pp=141–142}} In the [[Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany|areas of Poland annexed in 1939]], the Nazis instigated a [[Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland|brutal suppression]] and systematic dismantling of the Catholic Church.{{sfn|Libionka, ''The Catholic Church in Poland''}}{{sfn|Davies|2003|pp=86, 92}}

[[Alfred Rosenberg]], head of the [[NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs|Nazi Party Office of Foreign Affairs]] and Hitler's appointed cultural and educational leader for Nazi Germany, considered Catholicism to be among the Nazis' chief enemies. He planned the "extermination of the foreign Christian faiths imported into Germany", and for the [[Bible]] and [[Christian cross]] to be replaced in all churches, cathedrals, and chapels with copies of ''Mein Kampf'' and the swastika. Other sects of Christianity were also targeted, with Chief of the [[Nazi Party Chancellery]] [[Martin Bormann]] publicly proclaiming in 1941, "National Socialism and Christianity are irreconcilable."{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=240}}