Christen jüdischer Herkunft im Dritten Reich : Verfolgung und organisierte Selbsthilfe 1933-1939

Analyzes the changing fortunes of the Reichsverband der nichtarischen Christen, founded in 1933 as the Reichsverband christlich-deutscher Staatsbürger nicht-arischer oder nicht rein arischer Abstammung, later forced to change its name to Paulus-Bund and then to Vereinigung 1937. The Gestapo, and Goebbels' appointee for the supervision of Jewish cultural activities, Hans Hinkel, who both controlled it closely, wanted to eliminate from its name all references to the members' identity as Germans and Christians. The members, on the contrary, insisted on their German patriotism (including support for the "new Germany") and on the distinction (denied by the Nazis) between them and the "Mosaic" Jews. The membership comprised only a small minority of the "non-Aryan" Christians, because of the organization's elite character, its rejection of members not reliably patriotic, and the Gestapo's prohibition on publicity, as well as prospective members' hesitation to join what they saw as a "ghetto" and to come under the purview of the Gestapo. Despite its principle of integration in Germany, circumstances forced the organization to deal (with scant success) with emigration and to arrange separate cultural, social, and educational activities. To the last, it resisted absorption in the parallel Jewish organizations. The Nuremberg Laws improved the status of the Mischlinge as against that of the "full non-Aryans". In 1937, the Gestapo forced the organization to exclude the latter, and in August 1939 it closed it down. Meanwhile, the Churches had set up offices to assist their "non-Aryan" members, especially in emigration. A Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral--Technische Universität Darmstadt, 1994) presented under the title: Plötzlich waren wir keine Deutschen und keine Christen mehr. x, 308 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm