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Edited on Fri Sep-17-10 12:40 PM by happyslug
A couple of the leaders in the 1917-1918 German Naval Mutinies were executed along with any other POTENTIAL enemy of the state. These Mutinies had been left alone after the Mutinies and even during 1930s, only after it became crystal clear that Germany had lost the war were these people rounded up an executed (Some round up after the June 6, 1944 landings in France, but more after the July 20th failed plot to kill Hitler).
As to the Catholic Church of that time period, Pope Pius XI sent a letter to be read in Church by Catholic Priests to their congregations saying that Hitler had broken his word in regards to the Church and could NOT be trusted. The Conspirators actually approached the Catholic Church for support (and did received some support) even through most of the Conspirators were Protestant. The reason the Catholic Church was picked was do to it having an organization that reached outside Germany AND its opposition to the German rule of Hitler. Pope Pius XII (Pius Xi died in 1939) had come through the diplomatic section of the Vatican and turned away most request for assistance to over throw Hitler. Pius XII opposed Hitler, but was NOT going to risk the Church in over throwing him. Furthermore Poland was under German Occupation from 1939 and the Poles were asking the Pope to help them in regards to the occupation and Pius XII did not think he could reduce the pressure on the Poles without being able to talk to Hitler and that meant the Catholic Church did NOT want to be part of any coup, even while in opposition to Hitler.
People have to accept that Hitler worshiped only one god, himself, as did the Nazi party. This was re-affirmed after the 1923 failed Putsch when Hitler was jailed. The Nazi Party literally fell apart NOT do to any government action, but it no longer had Hitler to hold it together by his Speech making. Hitler was the draw and his imprisonment showed that to the Nazi Leadership and Membership. Thus any attack on Hitler was an attack on the Nazi Party. Thus the Nazis went nuts after the July 20th 1944 plot, they started to round up anyone who they even THOUGHT was involved with ANY opposition to the Party. There were ways to avoid the round up. One way was to stay in the Army, if you were in the Army at the front you came under Army law (on leave or in Berlin it was different). Many opposition leaders stayed in the German Army at the front, for their more feared going home then being killed by the Allies. One Conspiracy took a flight to Spain and sat out the rest of the War in Spain.
Just a comment on how bad it was in Germany from July 20th 1944 till the German Surrendered on May 7, 1945. Worse, many prisoners were held and then executed as allied troops came near the prison they were being held at. This was quite common, the guards, all good Nazis, did NOT want their prisoners to go free so they hanged them (Often by the use of Piano Wire). Several opposition leaders to the Nazis were killed this way. Remember at that time period, Hitler did NOT have to justify his killings to anyone, even foreign papers, he was becoming that isolated. The Nazis were to tied in with him as their leader they would do anything they THOUGHT he wanted them to do. If you want to put a religious angle on this train of thought it is one of the most anti-Catholic, Anti-Christian, Anti-Judaical-Christian-Islamic thought you can image. Justice did NOT matter, only Hitler did, and it is that mind set that we have to understand and attack (And Hitler was good at mixing Christian imagery, Teutonic Imagery, pagan imagery, Darwin/evaluational imagery and any thing else that he could use to justify his actions. He did NOT leave religion stand in his way, or any other theology for that matter. Hitler would use them all and ignore them all whenever it was convenient to him.
As to Hitler outlawing atheist groups, after he won power in 1933 Hitler did that to any group he thought he could get away with. This includes the Communists, other political parties, Labor unions etc. He did permit the Protestant and Catholic Churches to survive, not because he wanted to them survive, it would have turned some of his supporters against him (Remember the Nazis only win 34% of the vote, most people voted for some one else in the 1933-1934 elections). To eliminate this opposition he outlawed any possible opposition and replaced them with a Nazi controlled similar organization (For example, Unions were abolished and replaced by a Nazi Controlled Labor organization).
A major exception was the Churches, do to the fact most Germans were members of them and to outlaw them would be counter productive. Hitler did undermine the Protestant Churches, for most were more dependent on State tolerance then the Catholic Church was (and withdraw of tolerance and FUNDS could wreak such Churches AND almost all Secular organization, thus most Protestant AND secular groups either became pro-Nazis, or neutral). The Catholic Church had always been more centralized (in many ways the Catholic Church is more a parallel Government to the Secular Government then a religion within a society). Thus the Catholic Hierarchy could and did unite on various subjects (For example approved various Catholics in their helping the Jews escape the Nazis, while trying to minimize the effects of such laws with direct contract with Hitler). The above letter from Pius XI had to be smuggled into Germany for it was so opposed by the Nazis (and it was a relatively mild rebuke, but Hitler opposed ANY and ALL opposition no matter how mild, thus the Post WWII German President sat out the Nazi era, he did NOT support the Nazis, nor opposed them, just sat at home, till after WWII when he was seen as the only non-Nazi senior politician and was elected the First President of West Germany).
It is easy, today, 60 years later to see the errors the people of the 1930s and 1940s made in Germany, but when judging them we have to look at the world as they saw it. The Holocaust was in the Future (1940s) AND only occurred when Hitler was at war with the World and no longer cared what people thought over seas (The Holocaust was NOT set up till December 1941, Six months AFTER the Nazis had attacked Russia AND after Pearl Harbor). Once was was on, even the German Military opposition stood down and after the Fall of France stood down even more on the grounds "One can NOT overthrow a Military Winner" and that is how Hitler was seen in Germany in 1940-1941. Only with the failure of the Russian Campaign did the opposition rebuild, and by that time Pius XII had other problems (one of which was do to the Russian Campaign, things had improved in Poland and the Bishops of Poland was warning the Pope NOT to do anything that would make the Germans return to their practices of 1939-June 1941). Thus Pius XII refused to do anything that would make Hitler and the Nazis mad. Lets remember all restraints was off Hitler do to the on going war, and thus the Holocaust could occur. The Holocaust was NOT Possible till Germany was at war with the USSR AND the US on the grounds Hitler need oil from one or the other. Once Germany was at war with BOTH, Hitler wanted to stay in power EVEN IF THAT MEANT THE COMPLETE DEFEAT OF GERMANY. Complete defeat was certain by 1942, with the US in the War, AND the Russian Campaign failing to take Moscow. It was only a matter of time, and everyone knew it. The problem was HOW do you handle Hitler and the Nazis while the allies slowly crushed them? Not Much till an allied army took more and more of Europe. As the Allied Armies marched on, Hitler still had complete power in Germany, It was a mess, and everyone knew it. No one in the West Thought Hitler would do anything irrational (this no one believed the Holocaust stories even when told first hand, most people had heard similar stories 1914-1918 of the Germans and found after WWI that the stores were all lies so during WWII people took the stories as lies till allied armies marched into the death Camps).
To this day I hate when people lie about war crimes. The evil "Huns Bayoneting Belgium Babies", was a well known WWI British Propaganda lie. It was known to be a lie by 1920 by most people (and many people dismissed is as a lie during WWI when you had no evidence either way, it could be true, might not be and no one was relying on German denials for if true the Germans had good reasons to lie). The affect of that lie and that most people knew it to be a lie by 1940, colored people's perceptions of the Holocaust as it was occurring. You had good reliable first hand accounts of the Holocaust, but until you had IRREFUTABLE proof in the form of the death camps themselves, most people dismissed the claims as propaganda like "Huns Bayoneting Belgium Babies". This is the side affect of people lying about war crimes, such lies lead to people NOT believing any accusation of war crimes till you have over whelming evidence. It permitted the Nazis a free hands with the Jews during WWII.
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