Did you know. . .?

Question

that Christians were persucted during the Holocaust. (in no way am I trying to make it equal to the horrendous treatment of the jews).

That being said, why do people say the Holocaust was committed by Christians?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood up to Hitler and was in danger. He fled to america to escape danger, but God told him, "you abandoned your flock"' so he went back and was hanged.

I didn't know he was lutheran. So maybe he was a "Christian"

it does go completely against the teachings of the Bible though.

Paul says in Romans that we gentiles are not supossed to become arrogant and look down on Jews who haven't received Jesus.

I'm guessing these other "christians" missed that too.

Hitler--"Christian".

"Love your enemy"'
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"touch not my annointed."

Answer 1

They don't. They say it was committed by Nazis.

The worst I've ever heard said against Christians in this context is that they stood back and did nothing

Answer 2

Why do people say that the Holocaust was committed by Christians? Probably due to people thinking that since Lutheran, Reformed and Roman Catholicism were the predominant churches in Germany, the Nazi's must have been Christian. The National Socialist movement in Germany was very non Christian. Their ideology was influenced too heavily by the German Enlightenment of Kant, Frichte and Hegels, specifically German metaphysics. While metaphysics paved the way, there was also an intense love of Norse Mythology. This mythology made its way into the national identity, political rhetoric and the common culture.

With that being said, Western Europe has not been a friend to Judaism. They have persecuted, eradicated and expelled Jews ever since Christianity was brought to Europe. The first Monarch to expel all Jews out of a country was King Edward I of England on 1290. Soon followed by France in 1394. It was King Edward I that started the practice of making Jews wear yellow patches on their outer garments. The concept of "Blood-Libel" goes further back than that. Christian mobs charging into Jewish communities attempting to burn down buildings and murder Jews, in revenge for so called “kidnapping” of Christian children and brutally murdering them. If I documented the atrocities and persecution of the Jews at the hands of Christians, it would be pages long. To its credit some of the earlier Popes have given Jews refuge and sanctuary to Jewish communities in Europe. This is a concept that put forth by St Augustine of Hippo.

Answer 3

Because, as many Christians today still don't realize or even know, Hitler and his Nazis were in fact German Christians but had certain idiosyncrasies of being racists and anti-Semitic... Notice any similarities with certain groups that are active today??

As history will relate, the Vatican before and under Pope Pius XII was in accord with Hitler's agenda on anti-Semitism prior to WWII which eventually led to the Holocaust during the War.

That is where the correlation is --which is kinda similar to the actions perpetrated by the KKK, maybe??

Peace be with you.

Answer 4

The Holocaust was created by Adolph Hitler who said he was a Christian. Kind of like George W. Bush and the "Holy War." Christians didn't start this Holy War nor the Holocaust.

Answer 5

Hitler used a lot of God words in his speech because he was appealing to germans. Half of germany was lutheran and the other half was catholic. So Hitler player the game. Hit, by his own admission, was an "utter pagan". That's a quote from Hitler. He was also a follower of Freidrich Nietzsche who was an atheist an d the founder of the 'God is dead' movement back in the early 1900's.
http://www.answers.org/apologetics/hitquote.html

Answer 6

more Christians have died at the hands of other Christians than by any other religion throughout history. It is not a historical anomaly.

while its true that many Christians and especially clergymen were persecuted by Nazi Germany. And even if one says Hitler was not a practicing Christian. Hitler was not the one the pulled the trigger. It was the Christian SS officers.

Answer 7

Sadly, because there were many Christians who were afraid to speak out. And understandably so. Nevertheless to say Hitler was a Christian is off the wall.
I Cr 13;8a
12-13-6

Answer 8

es some Christean's(mostly Orthodox) ,Gay,the Handicapped,and anyone else that disagreed with the political power of that time were persecuted during WW2.The Jews were singled out because of their religion.The others were not.
People were not persecuted during the holocaust.The Holocaust is a name given to that persecution that happened during WW2.
People say that Christians committed this because the propaganda used Christians ideology to justify the means.

Answer 9

Hitler remained a Christian for the sake of maintaining a hold on power, but he really wanted to revert back to ancient German paganism.

Answer 10

People DON'T say that the holocaust was caused by christians. The reality is that is was perpetrated by people who happened to be part of christian civilsation. It cannot be said they were acting in the spirit of christianity.