The Institute for the Study and Elimination of Jewish Influence on German Church Life (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: ''Institut zur Erforschung und Beseitigung des jüdischen Einflusses auf das deutsche kirchliche Leben'') was a cross-church establishment by eleven German Protestant churches in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, founded at the instigation of the
German Christian movement. It was set up in
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
under Siegfried Leffler and
Walter Grundmann
Walter Grundmann (21 October 1906, in Chemnitz – 30 August 1976, in Eisenach) was a German Protestant theologian and antisemitic Nazi and Stasi collaborateur during the Third Reich and GDR. Grundmann served both German dictatorships. He was a me ...
.
Georg Bertram, professor of New Testament at the
University of Giessen
University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...
, who led the Institute from 1943 until the Institute's dissolution in May 1945, wrote about its goals in March 1944: "'This war is Jewry's war against Europe.' This sentence contains a truth which is again and again confirmed by the research of the Institute. This research work is not only adjusted to the frontal attack, but also to the strengthening of the inner front for attack and defence against all the covert Jewry and Jewish being, which has oozed into the Occidental Culture in the course of centuries, ... thus the Institute, in addition to the study and elimination of the Jewish influence, also has the positive task of understanding the own Christian German being and the organisation of a pious German life based on this knowledge."
The Institute produced a Bible without the Old Testament and remade the New Testament, removing the genealogies of Jesus that showed his Davidic descent. It removed Jewish names and places, quotations from the Old Testament (unless they showed Jews in a bad light), and any mentions of fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. It remade Jesus into a militaristic, heroic figure fighting the Jews using Nazified language.
In 1942, the Institute produced a hymn book, ''Grosser Gott wir loben Dich'', which likewise removed any references to Zion, Jehovah, Jerusalem, Temple and Psalm. Words were substantially rewritten and many 19th- and 20th-century authors were represented who were previously not. It was about half the size of previous hymn books.
The
Lutherhaus Eisenach
Lutherhaus Eisenach is one of the oldest surviving half-timbered houses in Thuringia. Tradition holds that Martin Luther lived there with the Cotta family during his schooldays in Eisenach from 1498 to 1501. The Lutherhaus has been one of the most ...
has been showing the special exhibition ''Study and Eradication. The Church’s ‘Dejudaization Institute’, 1939–1945'', which examines the institute’s historical background, origins, work and impact, since 2019. The exhibition will remain on display until the end of 2022.
Zeigen und ersetzen: Weitere "Nazi-Glocke" ausgestellt
online at: ZeitOnline, March 23, 2022 (retrieved May 23, 2022).
Founding churches
The Evangelical Church in Central Germany
The Evangelical Church in Central Germany (German: ''Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland''; ''EKM'') is a United church body covering most of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and some adjacent areas in Brandenburg and Saxony.
...
, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Norddeutschland) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, EKD). It was established on 27 May 2012 ...
, Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Saxony, Evangelical Regional Church of Anhalt, Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau
The Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (german: Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau, EKHN) is a United Protestant church body in the German states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. There is no bishop and therefore no cathedral. One of i ...
, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg) is a Lutheran church in the German state of Lower Saxony.
The seat of the church leaders is in Oldenburg, as is the preaching venue of its bishop at St L ...
, Evangelical Church of the Palatinate
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (german: Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz (Protestantische Landeskirche)) is a United Protestant church in parts of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, endorsing both Lutheran and Calvinist o ...
(Protestant Regional Church) and Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria
The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria (Evangelische Kirche Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses in Österreich) is a Lutheran denomination in Austria. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, which it joined in 1947. It is a ...
and Helvetic Confessions in Austria
The Reformed Church in Austria (Evangelical Church of the Helvetic Confession) is a Christian denomination in Austria. The origin of the church can traced to the Edict of Tolerance in 1781 and in 1861. The Counter-Reformation changed this, and ...
. The Union of Evangelical Churches
The Union of Evangelical Churches (German: ''Union Evangelischer Kirchen'', UEK) is an organisation of 13 United and Reformed evangelical churches in Germany, which are all member churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany.
Member churches ...
was composed of individual member churches.
Bibliography
* Jochen Birkenmeier, Michael Weise: ''Study and Eradication. The Church’s „Dejudaization Institute“, 1939–1945. Companion Volume to the Exhibition'', Eisenach: Stiftung Lutherhaus Eisenach 2020;
*
* Heschel, Susannah: ''The theological Faculty at the university of Jena as a Stronghold of national Socialism''; in: Mordechai Feingold: ''History of Universities''; Oxford 2003; S. 143–169;
* Susannah Heschel: ''Theologen für Hitler. Walter Grundmann und das „Institut zur Erforschung und Beseitigung des jüdischen Einflusses auf das deutsche kirchliche Leben“''; S. 125–170
* Fritz-Bauer-Institut (Hrsg.): ''„Beseitigung des jüdischen Einflusses …“ Antisemitische Forschung, Eliten und Karrieren im Nationalsozialismus''; Jahrbuch 1998/99 zur Geschichte und Wirkung des Holocaust; Darmstadt 1999
* Hans Prolingheuer: ''Wir sind in die Irre gegangen. Die Schuld der Kirche unterm Hakenkreuz, nach dem Bekenntnis des "Darmstädter Wortes" von 1947'', Köln: Pahl-Rugenstein 1987; .
* Eberhard Röhm, Jörg Thierfelder: ''Juden-Christen-Deutsche'', Vol 3/II: ''1938-1941''; Calwer Taschenbibliothek 51; Stuttgart: Calwer Verlag 1995; ; S. 43–54
* Thomas A. Seidel (Hrsg.): ''Thüringer Gratwanderungen. Beiträge zur 75jährigen Geschichte der evangelischen Landeskirche Thüringens''; Reihe: Herbergen der Christenheit. Jahrbuch für deutsche Kirchengeschichte, Sonderband 3; Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt
The Evangelische Verlagsanstalt (EVA) is a denominational media company founded in Berlin in 1946. Its shareholders are the and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony. The managing director is Sebastian Knöfel.
Book publisher
The range inc ...
, 1998;
* Erich Stegmann: ''Der Kirchenkampf in der Thüringer Evangelischen Kirche 1933-1945''; Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt; Jena: Wartburg-Verlag Kessler, 1984;
* Leonore Siegele-Wenschkewitz
Leonore Siegele-Wenschkewitz (27 June 1944, Belgard/Pommern – 17 December 1999, Frankfurt am Main) was a German church historian and director of the Evangelische Akademie Arnoldshain. She was co-editor of the journal ''Kirche und Israel'' (duri ...
(ed.): ''Christlicher Antijudaismus und Antisemitismus. Theologische und kirchliche Programme Deutscher Christen''; Arnoldshainer Texte 85; Frankfurt am Main: Haag und Herchen, 1994; ;
darin:
* Birgit Jerke: ''Wie wurde das Neue Testament zu einem sogenannten Volkstestament „entjudet“? Aus der Arbeit des Eisenacher „Instituts zur Erforschung und Beseitigung des jüdischen Einflusses auf das deutsche kirchliche Leben“'';
* Birgit Gregor (=Jerke): ''Zum protestantischen Antisemitismus. Evangelische Kirchen und Theologen in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus''; in: ''Jahrbuch 1998/99 zur Geschichte und Wirkung des Holocaust''; Darmstadt 1999; S. 171–200
* Matthias Wolfes
Matthias Wolfes (born August 28, 1961, Buchholz in der Nordheide, West Germany) is a German Protestant theologian.
Biography and activities
In 1998 he earned a PhD in systematic theology from the University of Heidelberg (Dr. theol.), Prof. Wol ...
: ''Protestantische Theologie und moderne Welt – Studien zur Geschichte der liberalen Theologie nach 1918''; Theologische Bibliothek Töpelmann 102; Berlin/New York 1999; S. 366–380;
* Peter von der Osten-Sacken (Hg.): ''Das mißbrauchte Evangelium. Studien zu Theologie und Praxis der Thüringer Deutschen Christen''; Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 2002;
* Jan Björn Potthast: ''Das jüdische Zentralmuseum der SS in Prag. Gegnerforschung und Völkermord im Nationalsozialismus'' Frankfurt/Main, New York: 2002; S. 32f.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute For The Study And Elimination Of Jewish Influence On German Church Life
Nazi Party organizations
Nazi Germany and Protestantism
Biblical criticism