Other religious persecution Holocaust victims

1 other religious persecution

1.1 jehovah s witnesses
1.2 roman catholics

1.2.1 poland


1.3 protestants
1.4 bahá í faith
1.5 freemasons
1.6 esperantists

other religious persecution


german nun edith stein; ethnically jewish, arrested @ netherlands convent , killed @ auschwitz after protest dutch bishops against abduction of jews.

the nazis targeted religious groups political , ideological reasons. thousands of christian clergy killed, including jewish background (edith stein, example). nazis considered jews racial group; secular people , of other religions had jewish ancestry were, therefore, jews (a belief shared jews).

jehovah s witnesses

historian detlef garbe, director of neuengamme memorial in hamburg, wrote jehovah s witnesses: no other religious movement resisted pressure conform national socialism [nazism] comparable unanimity , steadfastness . between 2,500 , 5,000 witnesses died in concentration camps; unwilling fight cause, refused serve in army.

roman catholics

the catholic church persecuted under third reich, nazi leadership hoping gradually de-christianize germany. political catholicism target of hitler s 1934 night of long knives. german clergy, nuns , lay leaders targeted after nazi takeover, leading thousands of arrests on following years. priests part of catholic resistance killed. hitler s invasion of catholic poland in 1939 began world war ii, , nazis targeted clergy, monks , nuns in campaign destroy polish culture.

the mortal agony of christ chapel @ dachau commemorates clergy imprisoned there.

in 1940, priest barracks of dachau concentration camp established. of 2,720 clergy imprisoned @ dachau, overwhelming majority (94.88 percent) catholic. according ian kershaw, 400 german priests sent camp. although holy see concluded 1933 concordat germany protect catholicism in third reich, nazis violated pact in kirchenkampf ( struggle churches ). shut down catholic press, schools, political parties , youth groups in germany amid murder , mass arrests. in march 1937, pope pius xi issued mit brennender sorge encyclical accusing nazi government of violating 1933 concordat , sowing tares of suspicion, discord, hatred, calumny, of secret , open fundamental hostility christ , church .

the church harshly treated in annexed regions, such austria. viennese gauleiter odilo globocnik confiscated property, closed catholic organizations , sent many priests dachau. in czech lands, religious orders suppressed, schools closed, religious instruction forbidden , priests sent concentration camps. catholic bishops, clergy, nuns , laypeople protested , attacked nazi policies in occupied territories; in 1942, dutch bishops protested mistreatment of jews. when archbishop johannes de jong refused yield nazi threats, gestapo rounded catholic jews , sent 92 auschwitz. 1 dutch catholic abducted in manner nun edith stein, died @ auschwitz along poland s maximilian kolbe. other catholic victims of holocaust have been beatified, including poland s 108 martyrs of world war ii, martyrs of nowogródek, dutch theologian titus brandsma , germany s lübeck martyrs , bernhard lichtenberg.

poland



polish franciscan maximillian kolbe died @ auschwitz.

according norman davies, nazi terror fiercer , more protracted in poland anywhere in europe. polish catholic victims of third reich numbered in millions. nazi ideology viewed ethnic poles—the catholic ethnic majority of poland—as subhuman. after 1939 invasion of poland, nazis instituted policy of murdering (or suppressing) ethnic-polish elite (including catholic religious leaders). nazi plan poland nation s destruction, necessitated attacking polish church (particularly in areas annexed germany). brief period of military control september 1 october 25, 1939, davies wrote: according 1 source, 714 mass executions carried out, , 6,376 people, catholics, shot. other put death toll in 1 town alone @ 20,000. taste of things come.

in polish areas annexed nazi germany, severe persecution began. nazis systematically dismantled church, arresting leaders, exiling clergy , closing churches, monasteries , convents. germanization of annexed regions began in december 1939 deportations of men, women , children. according richard j. evans, in reichsgau wartheland numerous clergy, monks, diocesan administrators , officials of church arrested, deported general government, taken off concentration camp in reich, or shot. altogether 1700 polish priests ended @ dachau: half of them did not survive imprisonment. among clergy died @ dachau many of 108 polish martyrs of world war ii.

hans frank said in 1940, poles may have 1 master—a german. 2 masters cannot exist side side, , why members of polish intelligentsia must killed. thomas j. craughwell wrote 1939 1945, estimated 3,000 members of polish clergy (18 percent) murdered; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps. according encyclopædia britannica, 1,811 polish priests died in nazi concentration camps. among persecuted resisters irena sendlerowa, head of children s section of Żegota, placed more 2,500 jewish children in convents, orphanages, schools, hospitals , homes. captured gestapo in 1943, sendlerowa crippled torture.

protestants

the nazis attempted deal protestant dissent ideology creating reich church, union of 28 existing protestant groups espousing positive christianity (a doctrine compatible nazism). non-aryan ministers suspended , church members called german christians, swastika on chest , cross in heart. protestant opposition nazis established confessing church, rival umbrella organization of independent german regional churches persecuted.

bahá í faith

the bahá í faith formally banned in third reich. heinrich himmler signed 1937 order disbanding bahá í institutions in germany because of international , pacifist tendencies . in 1939 , 1942, there sweeping arrests of former members of german spiritual assembly. may 1944 saw public trial in darmstadt; although hermann grossmann defended faith, bahá ís steeply fined , institutions continued disbanded.

freemasons

the nazis claimed high-degree masons willing members of jewish conspiracy , freemasonry cause of germany s defeat in world war i. reich main security office (reichssicherheitshauptamt, or rsha) records indicate persecution of freemasons during holocaust. rsha amt vii (written records), overseen franz six, responsible ideological tasks: creation of antisemitic , anti-masonic propaganda. although exact number unknown, estimated 80,000 200,000 freemasons killed result of hitler s december 1941 nacht und nebel directive. masonic concentration-camp inmates, considered political prisoners, wore inverted red triangle.

small blue forget-me-nots first used zur sonne grand lodge in 1926 masonic emblem @ annual convention in bremen. in 1938 forget-me-not badge made factory produced masonic badge chosen annual nazi winterhilfswerk, charity drive of national socialist people s welfare (the party s welfare branch). coincidence enabled freemasons wear forget-me-not badge secret sign of masonic membership.

after war, forget-me-not again used masonic emblem @ first annual united grand lodges of germany convention in 1948. badge worn on lapels of masons worldwide in remembrance of have suffered in name of freemasonry, particularly during nazi era.

esperantists

speakers of esperanto, international auxiliary language, viewed suspicion nazis. hitler considered language of jewish conspiracy because creator, l. l. zamenhof, jewish. because of this, people spoke esperanto sent death camps.