Why do people have the notion that the Holocaust was the killing of Jews by Christians?

Question

Hitler killed Christians who tried to protest their actions or help Jews. Alot of Christians also went through alot of trouble to help them leave the continent or go into hiding before they could be killed. And let's not forget the courageous Danish Lutherans who saved their country's Jews from death and continued fighting the Nazis through the Resistance.

P.S. Who said Hitler was a Christian anyway? he was just a maniacal guy.

Hitler was also half Jewish. Betcha didn't know that! and he probably hated Jews so much because his Jewish mother left him as a child.

Answer 1

It was the killing of people of Jewish decent by people of Christian decent. People who were Jewish were killed if they did or did not subscribe to a particular relgious tradition, and most of the people who did participate in the Holocaust were Christian. I am not saying that there were not heros of all religions at the time- but there were Christian who did kill.

That said- Christianity does have a lot of blood on it's hands, as do many religions. Crusades, Witch Burnings, and Genicides. They are even happening today... a religion doesn't protect it's followers from turning evil.

Answer 2

Hitler was not only brought up as a Roman Catholic Christian, but he expressed his Christian views into adulthood, including his period as Chancellor of the German Third Reich. One only need read Mein Kampf to see the extent of his Biblical beliefs. The German populace knew well about Hitler's book and it became a best-seller second only to the Bible. Furthermore, Hitler expressed his Christian feelings even more intensely in his speeches and proclamations throughout his power reign.
Just as revealingly, not only did Hitler present his religious beliefs in his speeches, but his own private notes reveal the influence of the Bible, long before he came into power. In one of his notes, he describes the Bible as the monumental history of mankind and used the old testament race laws as the foundation for his views against the Jews, which later turned into the Nazi Nuremberg race laws. Many Christians have attempted to destroy Hitler's claimed Christianity by pointing out that his actions did not appear Christian-like (whatever that means). Therefore, so the hypothesis goes, no "true" Christian would cause "evil" deeds. But again, the Bible does not define Christianity in terms of deeds regardless of how good or evil they seem. Yet it came through his very deeds that Hitler confessed his work for the Lord: "Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." - Hitler (Mein Kampf)

How's that for an answer? Not everyone under the Nazi thumb agreed with it, you know.

Answer 3

Hitler repeatedly states in his writings, such as "Mein Kampf," that he viewed the eradication of the Jews as a Christian mission. Add to this the Catholic Church's complicity and a very damaging picture emerges. True Christians know Hitler and the Pope at that time weren't truly Christian; but our explanations sound like platitudes to those who lost everything.

It's true that Hitler killed Christians who tried to help the Jews. Just ask my father, who nearly lost his entire family (except his French mother and German father, who narrowly escaped Germany during WWII) for helping them.

All we can do is live the way our Lord and Master commanded us.

Peace.

Answer 4

Because that way they get more sympathy and it detracts from the 5 million Christians that Hitler put to death. It is true that Hitler "persecuted Jews, but he killed all kinds, not just Jews. I think there is some idea that hitler used christian ideas to persecute the jews, maybe he blamed them for killing jesus... I have heard stories like this some place. So basically it is an exaggeration of the truth.

Answer 5

So Hitler personally killed 6 million Jews and 20 million Russians did he? Think about it for a microsecond. Most of the killing was done by good Polish and German Christians.

Answer 6

2 reasons:

1) Germany is the cradle of Protestantism and home of Martin Luther who was extremely anti-semitic. Martin Luther, in his writings, scripted the Holocaust 400 years before it happened...from the Nuremburg Laws - to Kristallnacht - to concentration camps and crematoria.

2) Hitler was born into a Catholic home and raised as a nominal Catholic.

The fact of the matter is that, while anti-semitism was rampant in Protestant Germany and other places in Catholic Europe for centuries, it took an ideology far removed from either Luther or the RCC to open the floodgates of mass murder.

No, the Nazis were not christians, but many 'good' christians and 'good' catholics willfully participated in the slaughter. But to blame christianity for the holocaust is unwarranted.

Answer 7

The way I heard it was that hitlers mothewr was jewish and his father was an Austrian catholic and his mother left his father for another man a Jewish man hence his pathological hatred of the Jews and hitler had the backing of the catholic church in his rise to power and even after the pope sent a special emmisary a bishop named spelt and according to declassified doccuments from the Nuremberg War crimes Trial they have pictures iof the bishop with a machine gun killing helpless women and children by the busload and having conferences with hitler himmler and gobels also in developing lavensborn the nazi selective breeding camp to produce the so called "master race" and from church sources hitler was a confirmed catholic so draw your own conclusions Gorbalizer

Answer 8

it was the killing of jews, catholics, disabled people, homosexuals, and gypsies by other christians. sure, some of them did the right thing, but the reality is that much of the european population (which was almost exclusively christian at the time) not only was silent about it, but actively participated. how nice that a polish couple hid a little jew in their basement, but when five other polish couples are tattling on that couple to the nazis for hiding the jew in the basement, a very depressing picture emerges.

Answer 9

Because, for a very brief time, Hitler was aligned with Christianity. But that ended pretty fast. It seemed that anyone who Hitler didn't like was targeted, mostly Gypsies and Jewish, as well as those who opposed him; but being that he was dark haired and short, I always found it quite ironic that anyone would follow a man looking to make tall blonds the supreme race.

Answer 10

Hitler declared himself a Christan - and since when did Christians killing Christians become something strange? Heck, the Christan God killed very devoted believers for doing something as harmless as trying to keep the Ark of the Covenant from falling off of a wagon.