"Wem wollt ihr glauben?" : Bischof Berning im Dritten Reich

Bishop Wilhelm Berning of Osnabrück was known as the "Nazi bishop"; he was instrumental in carrying out Cardinal Bertram's policy of close relations with the Nazi regime and opposition to Nazi measures through confidential petitions rather than public protest. Argues that this image can be corrected through study of Berning's sermons, in which he spoke out against racism. After 1934 he progressively distanced himself from the regime and from Bertram. Pp. 307-353 analyze his attitude to the persecution of the Jews. He accepted traditional anti-Jewish doctrines and current theories of race. But he insisted that all human beings were created by God and that natural law demands respect for their rights and their lives. He attempted to intervene for non-Aryan Catholics and, as head of the St. Raphael Verein, to help them emigrate. After learning of the massacres of Jews and conditions in the concentration camps, he was among the initiators of a series of attempts to draft pastoral letters and petitions to the Führer condemning the infringement of Church rights and of human rights. Bertram either blocked these initiatives or struck out the reference to Jews. Criticizes Berning's stand after the war: he denounced Nazi crimes but did not acknowledge the Church's and his own collaboration. Includes bibliographical references (pages 496-516) and indexes. 528 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm