Berlin, Germany • May 28, 1938 On this date in 1938 Adolf Hitler informed his senior military commanders of his plans to march into neighboring Czechoslovakia and erase that country from the map. No serious objections were raised by those who heard the German dictator ring the death knell for Czechoslovakia and for the European…
Berlin, Germany • April 5, 1943 On this date in 1943 in Berlin, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested at his parents’ home by two agents of the Gestapo (Secret State Police). One of the leading Protestant theologians of the past century, Bonhoeffer was a founding pastor of the dissident Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche), which…
Berlin, Germany • October 15, 1939 On this date in 1939 Adm. Wilhelm Canaris, head of the German Abwehr (military intelligence), directed Capt. Theodor von Hippel to raise a commando unit that would become known by year’s end as the Brandenburgers. The name derived from the unit’s training site, Brandenburg on the Havel, roughly 54 miles/87 km…
Berlin, Germany • July 1, 1937 On this date in 1937 the Gestapo (German secret police) arrested outspoken Lutheran theologian and pastor Martin Niemoeller. The next year Niemoeller, still incarcerated, was tried by a three-judge “special court” (a Nazi Sondergericht) for activities against the State. Niemoeller’s court-appointed defense counsel defended the cleric, insisting Niemoeller had raised…
Berlin, Germany · July 1, 1937 On this date in 1937 the Gestapo (German secret police) arrested outspoken Lutheran theologian and pastor Martin Niemoeller. The next year Niemoeller was tried for activities against the State. Released after the trial, Niemoeller was rearrested—presumably because Deputy Fuehrer Rudolf Hess decided to take “merciless action” against the clergyman…
Berlin, Germany · May 28, 1938 On this date in 1938 Adolf Hitler informed his senior military commanders of his plans to march into neighboring Czechoslovakia and erase that country from the map. No serious objections were raised by those who heard Hitler ring the death knell for Czechoslovakia and for the European order that…
Berlin, Germany · April 5, 1943 On this date in 1943 in Berlin, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested at his parents’ home by two Gestapo agents. Bonhoeffer was a deeply convicted theologian and a founding pastor of the Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche), which rejected the Third Reich’s efforts to Nazify the German Lutheran Church….
Berlin, Germany · July 1, 1937 On this date in 1937 the Gestapo arrested outspoken Lutheran theologian and pastor Martin Niemoeller. The next year Niemoeller was tried for activities against the State. Released after the trial, Niemoeller was rearrested—presumably because Deputy Fuehrer Rudolf Hess decided to take “merciless action” against him when the court didn’t. Niemoeller…
Berlin, Germany · May 28, 1938 On this date in 1938 Adolf Hitler informed his senior military commanders of his plans to march into neighboring Czechoslovakia and erase that country from the map. No serious objections were raised by those who heard Hitler ring the death knell for Czechoslovakia and for the European order that…
Berlin, Germany · April 5, 1943 On this date in 1943 in Berlin, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested at his parents’ home by two Gestapo agents. Bonhoeffer was a deeply convicted theologian and a founding pastor of the Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche), which rejected the Third Reich’s efforts to Nazify the German Lutheran Church….