Latter-day Saints and Nazi Germany

135 Primary Sources

Date
Summary
Mar 1, 1842

Original text of the 12th Article of Faith in the 1842 Wentworth Letter states "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law."

Dec 22, 1842

Joseph's history indicates he studied German with Orson Hyde.

Jan 1, 1843

Orson Hyde cites the German Bible in a discourse.

Mar 6, 1843

Joseph in his journal says he studied German.

Apr 8, 1843

Joseph cites the German Bible in a discourse.

Apr 7, 1844

Joseph cites German in the King Follett Discourse.

May 12, 1844

Joseph cites the German Bible in a public discourse.

Jun 3, 1844

Joseph's history indicates he studied German with Alexander Neibaur.

1919

James E. Talmage writes that the Church teaches to submit to secular governments.

1924

James E. Talmage comments on the 12th Article of Faith.

1925

Heribert Holzapfel calls the Church a "Sekte" in Germany.

1925

Konrad Algermissen groups "Mormonen" as a "Sekte" in Germany.

1930

Paul Scheurlen classifies the Church as a "Sekte" in Germany.

Nov 1931

Wendell C. Irvine writes about meeting Hitler and hearing him speak; says he was a great orator but a political fanatic.

Oct 29, 1932

The First Presidency issues a statement of political neutrality.

Nov 21, 1932

Deseret News expresses skepticism that Hitler would implement his revolutionary and dangerous policies if elected chancellor of Germany.

Jan 5, 1933

The Saale-Zeitung describes "Mormon captialism" in Utah.

Jul 18, 1933

A 1933 memorandum indicates the Church in Darmstadt will continued to be observed by the secret police.

Sep 8, 1933

Oliver H. Budge writes to the Gestapo explaining the Church and its mission in Germany.

Sep 28, 1933

Millennial Star reports that the Nazis are implementing a "fast" program.

Oct 11, 1933

A 1933 memorandum states that the Church in Berlin will continue to be watched by the police.

Dec 9, 1933

Dale Clark favorably compares LDS practices with Nazi practices (such as fasting and avoiding alcohol).

Dec 16, 1933

Gestapo report indicating LDS publications that were confiscated for "anti-state tendencies."

Jan 8, 1934

A 1934 memorandum indicates the Church is being observed in Karlsruhe.

Feb 17, 1934

Oliver H. Budge opines that Nazi interest in genealogy is in fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy.

Jul 9, 1934

J. Reuben Clark calls Hitler's courts an "assassinational tribunal."

Jun 13, 1935

Mission president Roy A. Welker cites Articles of Faith 12 for missionaries to answer what the Church thinks of worldly government.

Jun 28, 1935

Roy E. Babbel writes to the Gestapo explaining the mission's policy with the government.

Jul 4, 1935

SD reports on surveillance of a Church meeting in Berlin.

Aug 23, 1935

Letter written by a Nazi mayor Justin Herre criticizing the "Mormon Church".

Sep 15, 1935

Law of September 15, 1935, establishing the swastika flag as the national flag of Germany.

Sep 17, 1935

SD report indicates the Nazis were spying on Baptist and Mormon church activities.

Jan 31, 1936

The police in Düsseldorf consider banning missionary activity in the area.

Feb 14, 1936

Police report spying on activities of the Mormons in Erfurt.

May 6, 1936

Roy A. Welker writes a mission letter instructing missionaries not to discuss politics.

May 15, 1936

Roy A. Welker writes to the Gestapo explaining the Church and its mission in Germany.

Jun 23, 1936

Former Latter-day Saint Nazi "Robert" criticizes the Church.

Jul 3, 1936

First Presidency issues statement denouncing communism but upholding political neutrality.

Aug 1936

John A. Widtsoe writes that Nazism should be resisted by Latter-day Saints because it violates free agency.

Sep 8, 1936

Gestapo report on a church conference in Bremen.

Sep 28, 1936

The Oberbergischer Bote calls the Mormons a "Sekte" (cult).

Oct 1936

Roy A. Welker reports on the Church in Germany in 1936.

Jan 1937

Arthur Gaeth writes that the Catholic Church in Prague accused Mormon missionaries of being Nazi spies.

Jan 23, 1937

The police in Schwerin, Germany, recommend banning the Church on ideological grounds.

Jun 14, 1937

J. Reuben Clark calls the Nazis criminals.

Jul 1937 - Dec 1937

Der Stern reports the location of Heber J. Grant's speech in Frankfurt.

Jul 18, 1937

German-Austrian Mission Manuscript History reports that Heber J. Grant spoke on the Articles of Faith in Berlin.

Aug 1937

The Improvement Era reports on Heber J. Grant's European itinerary.

Aug 7, 1937

Deseret News reports on Heber J. Grant preaching in Frankfurt.

Aug 18, 1937

The Gestapo reports on Heber J. Grant's preaching in Germany.

Sep 2, 1937

The Stuttgarter NS-Kurier describes Utah and interviews Heber J. Grant.

Sep 8, 1937

The Salt Lake Tribune quotes Roy A. Welker as downplaying the Nazi threat to Europe.

Sep 8, 1937

The Nazis propose a general ban on Mormon missionaries in Germany.

Sep 11, 1937

Report from the Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS on the Mormons voices suspicions of "Jewish influence."

Oct 1, 1937

Heber J. Grant recounts his tour of Europe in 1937.

Oct 2, 1937

Roy A. Welker reports positive experiences with the Nazi government in Germany and conditions of the Church in general.

Apr 4, 1938

J. Reuben Clark expresses his pacifism and suggests Latter-day Saints leave alone political issues.

Apr 4, 1938

Levi Edgar Young speaks apprehensively of growing war sentiment in Germany.

Apr 4, 1938

Melvin J. Ballard says Hitler is an instrument in God's hands to return the Jews to the Holy Land.

Aug 11, 1938

Report on the Mormons for Alfred Rosenberg, head of Nazi surveillance organization.

Oct 8, 1938

J. Reuben Clark calls the Nazi government "detestable."

Oct 9, 1938

Richard R. Lyman stresses that missionaries in Europe remain apolitical while serving as missionaries.

Nov 23, 1938

Levi Edgar Young decries Nazi persecution of the Jews.

Apr 14, 1939

Alfred C. Rees writes an overview of the Church in the Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter.

Apr 14, 1939

The pamphlet version of Alfred C. Rees's April 14, 1939 article in the Völkischer Beobachter.

May 20, 1939

Paul H. Lambert reports on the publication of "Im Lande der Mormonen" in a Nazi newspaper.

Oct 6, 1939

The First Presidency denounces war after the German invasion of Poland in 1939.

Nov 14, 1939

German newspaper Mettmanner Zeitung calls the Mormons a "Sekte" (cult) and describes the miracle of the seagulls.

Jul 1, 1940

J. Reuben Clark notes FBI thinks some German Mormons might be "Hitlerites."

Oct 6, 1940

David O. McKay says Nazism will "thwart the progress" of human happiness.

1941

Helmuth Hübener denounces Hitler in a pamphlet.

1941

Helmuth Hübener criticizes the Nazis on religious grounds in one of his pamphlets.

1941

Nels Lars Nelson writes a book critical of Hitler and Nazi aggression in Europe; compares WW2 to Lucifer's war in heaven.

Nov 27, 1941

Nephi L. Morris condemns totalitarianism on the grounds that it is incompatible with Christian belief.

May 1942

First Presidency issues a statement declaring the church does not advocate for political functions.

May 14, 1942

J. Reuben Clark makes anti-Semitic comment in letter to Hebert Hoover.

Oct 1942

The First Presidency issues a statement condemning both Nazism and Communism.

Oct 27, 1942

Helmuth Hübener writes final letter to Marie Sommerfeld expressing his faith in the gospel.

Jan 8, 1943

J. Reuben Clark tells James H. Moyle he thinks Jews are threatening the constitution.

Nov 1943

David O. McKay alludes to Hitler as a dictator.

Aug 1945

John A. Widtsoe condemns the Nazi idea of a "master race."

Oct 10, 1945

An October, 1945 statute outlaws the Nazi Party in Germany.

Nov 24, 1945

Max Zimmer reports some Saints were pro-Nazi, were corrected by local leaders.

Jun 19, 1948

Rosa Boehringer writes a letter describing herself and her husband who were persecuted by the Nazis.

1954

Franklin H. Littell defines the difference between a "church" and a "sect" in Germany.

1960

Justus Ernst compiles incidents of Church history in Germany between 1933-1945.

1961

Otto Berndt, district president in Germany, recounts his experience with Helmuth Hübener.

Apr 1969

Jay M. Todd recounts the experience of German Latter-day Saints during WW2.

May 1969

Otto Berndt discusses his time as Helmuth Hübener's district president.

1970

Gilbert W. Scharffs reviews similar ideas or practices in Nazism and Mormonism; concludes the similarities are most likely coincidental.

1972

Joseph M. Dixon reviews the history of Mormons living in the Third Reich.

May 31, 1975

Church News reports on a German POW, Joseph Beuchert, who joined the Church.

1979

Ernst Christian Helmreich summarizes the Latter-day Saints under the Third Reich.

1979

Ernst Christian Helmreich describes "Free Churches" and "Sects" in Germany.

1979

Ernst Christian Helmreich describes the Nazis' reactions to "Sects."

1980

Alan F. Keele and Douglas F. Tobler review the life and resistance efforts of Helmuth Hübener.

1982

Christine Elizabeth King reviews how Latter-day Saints used cooperation with the Nazi government as a survival strategy.

1984

Karl-Heinz Schnibbe, a co-conspirator with Helmuth Hübener, recalls his experience with Hübener and their resistance efforts.

1987

Barbara Beuys reviews Helmuth Hübener's resistance efforts against the Nazis.

1991

Jeffery L. Anderson reviews the state of the Church during the Nazi period; concludes most members were apolitical and simply cooperated with the regime as a survival tactic.

1992

Rudi Wobbe provides his account of his experience as a co-conspirator with Helmuth Hübener.

1992

Douglas F. Tobler interviews J. Reuben Clark III on his father's anti-Semitism.

1992

Douglas F. Tobler reviews LDS attitudes towards the Nazis and the Hitler; concludes there's no evidence of official endorsement of Nazi beliefs.

1994

Gerhard L. Weinberg reviews the outbreak of World War 2 in Europe.

1998

Horst A. Reschke recalls his father Max Reschke rescuing Jews from Kristallnacht.

1999

Frederick Kempe interviews Franz Krause (Kramer), son of Nazi Mormon Erich Krause (Kramer).

2001

Michael Berenbaum reviews Nazi persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.

2002

D. Michael Quinn comments on J. Reuben Clark's anti-Semitism.

2002

D. Michael Quinn cites examples of J. Reuben Clark using antisemitic language.

2003

Jessie Embry interviews former missionaries in Germany; writes that missionaries had mixed views of Hitler in the 1930s.

2003

Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Marc Alain Bohn describe Heber J. Grant's 1937 trip to Switzerland and Germany.

2003

Alan F. Keele interviews "Bruno"–a Latter-day Saint who fought in the SS.

2003

Robert C. Freeman describes the general experience of German Latter-day Saints during WW2.

2007

Richard J. Evans discusses Nazi Germany as a police state.

2008

Robert C. Freeman and Jon R. Felt review Latter-day Saints who fought for Germany during WW2.

2009

Roger P. Minert reviews the status of the Church in East Germany between 1933-1945.

2009

Roger P. Minert gives a concluding overview of the status of Latter-day Saints in East Germany during 1933-1945.

2010

Steve Carter notes "superficial" similarities between Mormon and Nazi teachings.

2010

Roger P. Minert calculates German Latter-day Saint war losses and casualties.

2011

Roger P. Minert concludes that LDS Germans were less likely to be Nazis but some still were, and others fought for German armed forces.

2011

Roger P. Minert gives a general overview of Latter-day Saints in Western Germany and Austria, including how many were in the German armed forces.

2013

Kurt Widmer reviews the history of the Church between 1933-1945; concludes most German Mormons were either silent about or supportive of the Nazis.

2015

Jonathan Green reviews Moroni and the Swastika; critiques David Conley Nelson's central thesis.

2015

David Conley Nelson explains building in which Heber J. Grant spoke in Frankfurt was owned by the Nazis.

2015

David Conley Nelson reviews the life of Erich Krause, a Mormon Nazi.

2019

Jane Caplan describes Lebensraum and Nazi conquest.

2019

Jane Caplan reviews Nazi party membership numbers.

2019

Jane Caplan describes the Nazi police state.

2024

The 12th Article of Faith in the Pearl of Great Price states that the Church "believe[s] in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."

2024

The Encyclopedia Britannica gives an overview of the history of the Nazi Party.

2024

The Church issues a statement condemning the protests in Charlottesville, VA.

2024

The Holocaust Encyclopedia explains Nazi eugenics.

2024

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum gives a review of the Holocaust from 1933-1945.

2024

The Holocaust Encyclopedia describes Nazi concentration camps.

2024

The Holocaust Encyclopedia reviews Nazi Racism.