Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945) was a German religious leader and participant in the resistance movement against Nazism. Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and theologian, took part in the plots being planned by members of the Abwehr (Military Intelligence Office) to assassinate Hitler. He was arrested, imprisoned, and eventually hanged following the failure of the July 20 1944, assassination attempt.

Return to Germany

He returned to Germany in 1931, where he lectured on theology in Berlin and wrote several books. A strong opponent of Nazism, he was involved, together with Martin Niemöller, Karl Barth and others, in setting up the Confessing Church. Between late 1933 and 1935 he served as pastor of two German-speaking protestant churches in London. He returned to Germany to head an illegal seminary for Confessing Church pastors, first in Finkenwalde and then at the von Blumenthal estate of Gross Schlönwitz, which was closed on the outbreak of war. The Gestapo also banned him from preaching, teaching, and finally speaking at all in public. During this time, Bonhoeffer worked closely with numerous opponents of Hitler.

Related Topics:
1931 - Martin Niemöller - Karl Barth - Confessing Church - 1933 - 1935 - London - Von Blumenthal - Gestapo

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During World War II, Bonhoeffer played a key leadership role in the Confessing Church, which opposed the anti-semitic policies of Adolf Hitler. He was among those who called for wider church resistance to Hitler's treatment of the Jews. While the Confessing Church was not large, it represented a major focus of Christian opposition to the Nazi government in Germany.

Related Topics:
Anti-semitic - Adolf Hitler - Jew - Christian - Germany

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In 1939 Bonhoeffer joined a hidden group of high-ranking military officers based in the Abwehr, or Military Intelligence Office, who wanted to overthrow the National Socialist regime by killing Hitler. He was arrested in April 1943 after money used to help Jews escape to Switzerland was traced to him, and he was charged with conspiracy. He was imprisoned in Berlin for a year and a half. After the unsuccessful July 20 Plot in 1944, connections of Bonhoeffer to the conspirators were discovered, he was moved to a series of prisons and concentration camps ending at Flossenburg. Here, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging at dawn on 9 April 1945, just three weeks before the liberation of the city. Also hanged for their parts in the conspiracy were his brother Klaus and his brothers-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi and Rüdiger Schleicher. For humiliation, and for the sadistic whim of the SS-staff present, all four men were forced to strip down completely in their cells before walking totally naked to the gallows.

Related Topics:
Abwehr - Switzerland - July 20 Plot - 1944 - Flossenburg - Hanging - 9 April - 1945 - Hans von Dohnanyi - Rüdiger Schleicher - Naked

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