A tale of two leaders: German Methodists and the Nazi state

Church History

Volumn 70, Issue 2, 2001, Pages 199-225

  Blaich, Roland ^a  

^a Walla Walla College   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 67649371114     PISSN: 00096407     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3654450     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. Klaus Scholder, The Churches and the Third Reich, 1918-1934 (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988), 1: 261-69. Evangelisches Zentralarchiv (hereafter EZA) contains a large collection of press clippings on this subject under 5/802, 803, 804, and 805
2. Hitler charged the Propaganda Ministry with the task to coordinate these efforts. His decision came on 10 May and again on 24 May 1933. Herbert Strahm, Die Bischöfliche Methodistenkirche im Dritten Reich (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 1989), 62
3. On Nazi appeal for Methodist assistance, see A. J. Ohlrich to Nuelsen, 27 March 1933. Methodist Archive, Zurich (hereafter MAZ), 214. All English translations from German language documents are my own
4. Gratified, Nuelsen wrote to von Neurath "that especially now there is appreciation for the service we are able to render our Fatherland by wisely utilizing our foreign ties" (MAZ/214). All translations from the German are by the author
5. On the radio address, see Der Evangelist, 23 April 1933, 262, 267. Der Evangelist was the official voice of Methodism in Germany. Excerpts were also published in the German press
6. See also John S. Conway, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches (New York: Basic Books, 1968), 342-44
7. "Bischof Nuelsen spricht über die Kirchenfrage in Europa," Cincinnatier Freie Presse (22 October 1935). Copy in AA, 62290
8. See, for instance, "The Lord Blesses Every Step That Hitler Takes," New York Times, 23 March 1936
9. "Dr. Melle Praises Hitler and Pictures Nation as Happy," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 24 April 1936
10. See also telegram of German Embassy London, 23 July 1937. EZA 5123, No. 252
11. "Church's Relations with the State: The Oxford Conference and the German Delegates," The Manchester Guardian Weekly, 30 July 1937
12. The official report on the Oxford Conference is found in J. H. Oldham, The Oxford Conference (New York: Clark, 1937)
13. On Nazi praise and the controversy following Oxford, see Gerhard Schäfer, Dokumentation zum Kirchenkmpf (Stuttgart: Calwer Verlag, 1982), 5: 571-634
14. 10 February 1938. "Niemoeller Defied Nazi Court Openly," New York Times, 11 February 1938, 8
15. Reprinted in Karl Zehrer, Evangelische Freikirchen und das "Dritte Reich" (Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1986), 149
16. Roy H. Short, History of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church, 1939-1979 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1980), 65
17. On Hitler, see Rev. C. G. Meyer, "Im neuen Deutschland," 12 May 1937
18. Diffendorfer to Nuelsen, 29 April 1938. UMA/Missions, 1185-6-1:23, No. 310
19. "Methodists Ask Reich to End Persecution," The Nezv York Times, 19 November 1938, 3
20. For example, see the resolution of the New York East Annual Conference, quoted in "Methodists Assail Anti-Jewish Acts," The New York Times, 20 May 1938, 14
21. Karl Steckel and Ernst Sommer, eds., Gescliichte der Evangelish- methodistischen Kirche: Weg, Wesen und Auftrag des Methodismus mil bcsonderer Beriicksichtigimg der deutschsprachigen Länder Europas (Stuttgart: Christliches Verlagshaus, 1982), 99
22. Der Christliche Apologete, 7 August 1940, 119
23. J. A. Diekmann, "John Louis Nuelsen: In Memoriam," The Bethesdan, August 1946, 5
24. On award of honorary Doctor of Theology degree, see Paul Ernst Hammer, John L. Nuelsen: Aspekte und Materialien eines biographischen Versuchs (Stuttgart: Christliches Verlagshaus, 1974): 32-33
25. John L. Nuelsen, "Religion and Church in Hitler's Germany," unpublished manuscript, MAZ, 261
26. Melle, "Gebetserhörung am Kriegsende," Der Evangelist, 18 January 1919
27. "Am Webstuhl der Zeit," Der Leitstern, September 1921
28. Melle to Diffendorfer, 24 March 1938. UMA/Missions, 1185-5-3:34
29. Nuelsen to Diffendorfer, 14 May 1938. UMA, Missions, 1185-6-1:23, No. 310
30. See also Bishop Sommer's appeal to the Ecumenical Conference in Springfield, MA, 9 September 1947. UMA/Council of Bishops, July 1947-May 1948, 429
31. Raymond J. Wade, "Memoir," May 1947. UMA/Council of Bishops, July 24-May 1948, 388-92. Wade had presided over the Scandinavian parish
32. See also Nuelsen to Diffendorfer, 14 November-19 May 1938. UMA/Missions, 1185-6-1:23/310
33. On masculine virtues promoted by German Christians, see Doris L. Bergen, Twisted Cross: The German Christian Movement in the Third Reich (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1996), 74-81
34. "Message of Bishop Melle to the Central Conference of the Methodist Church in Germany," in session in Frankfurt/Main, November 7-11, 1946
35. Raymond J. Wade, "Memoir for Bishop John Louis Nuelsen and Bishop F. H. Otto Melle," UMA/Council of Bishops, 1944-48, 391
36. See the excellent study by Andrea Strübind, Die unfreie Freikirche: Der Bund der Baptistengemeinden im "Dritten Reich" (Neukirchen: Neukirchener Verlag, 1991)
37. Among these was Adolf Minck, leader of German Seventh-day Adventists, who decided to accommodate the Nazi state and thus spare his church members a tragic fate. See Roland Blaich, "Religion Under National Socialism: The Case of the German Adventist Church," Central European History 26 (1993): 277
38. Stewart W. Herman, "Interview with Bishop Otto Melle of the German Methodist Church on Tuesday, September 18," in Die evangelische Kirche nach dem Zusammenbruch. Berichte ausländischer Beobachter aus dem Jahre 1945, ed. Clemens Vollnhals (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1988), 145
39. Memo by Bishop Carl Wesley Gamer, 5 September 1945. UMA/Missions, 1117-1-2:17