In the days after World War II, a convenient story was told of church leaders and ordinary Christians that defied the Nazis from the beginning.

Recent research has uncovered a very different story.   Rather than resisting, the greater part of the German church saw Hitler's rise in 1933 as an act of God's blessing, a new chapter in the story of God among the German people.

This film, based upon groundbreaking research, introduces the viewer to three of the greatest Christian scholars of the twentieth century: Paul Althaus, Emanuel Hirsch, and Gerhard Kittel, men who were also outspoken supporters of Hitler and the Nazi party.   In 1933 Althaus spoke of Hitler's rise as "a gift and miracle of God."   Hirsch saw 1933 as a "sunrise of divine goodness."   And Kittel, the editor of the standard reference work on the Jewish background of the New Testament, began working for the Nazis to find a "moral" rationale for the destruction of European Jewry.

This provocative film asks: how could something like this happen in the heart of Christian Europe?   Could it happen again?   How does the scholarship of this period affect the church today?   Does the church of today retain the ability to recognize profound evil?

Special features included in the DVD:

• "Discovery in the Archives," an account given by Wolfgang Krogel in Berlin of the use of baptismal records to identify persons of "non-Aryan" heritage
• "A Pastor Remembers," a personal story told by Rudolf Weckerleng, a 93 year old pastor of the Confessing Church.

Study Guide Now Available
click here for sample chapter

The film is an excellent introduction to understanding how the church failed. It is well researched and presented and I highly recommend it.

The video was also shown and discussed at The 35th Annual Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches in March in Philadelphia. It was given high marks for its scholarship and ability to recognize the failure of the church during Nazism - when too few theologians resisted.

Professor Marcia Sachs Littell, Director
Master of Arts Program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

For people who thought Dietrich Bonhoeffer represented the mainstream of German Christianity in the Third Reich, this film is a rude awakening. And it is a cautionary message in a society where nationalism, patriotism, and Christian faith may be coming too closely connected in some circles. This is an excellent title for university, seminary, and large public libraries looking for important additions to their Holocaust collections.

Jean Flanigan, Associate Director of Libraries & Media Center
East Tennessee State University,
Johnson City, Tennessee

One big conclusion on the disc- Every sentence is a teaching point- I've seen the show eight times and I'm still learning.

Bobby Nier, Sunday School Teacher
First United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

View a brief segment of the program

Read reviews of "Theologians Under Hitler"