Four Germans, including two sisters and their partners, were caught laying white roses at Adolf Hitler's birthplace in Braunau am Inn, Austria, posing for photos and making Nazi salutes, which are banned in Austria and Germany. Police found Nazi-themed messages on one woman's phone. The group faces suspicion of violating Austrian laws against Nazi symbols. Efforts to transform Hitler's family home into a police station aim to deter Nazi sympathisers.
Russian blogger Alyona Agafonova has been sentenced to 10 months of correctional labor for rehabilitating Nazism in an Instagram video where she pretended to tickle the Motherland Calls monument in Volgograd. The court also ordered 10% of her income to be garnished, banned her from posting online for two years, and the maximum punishment for rehabilitating Nazism is five years in prison. President Putin signed the law criminalizing Nazi propaganda in 2014. The incident highlights Russia's crackdown on behaviors deemed inappropriate and the imposition of traditional values.
The lower house of Swiss parliament has approved a measure that bans the use, public wearing, or display of Nazi and racist symbols that could incite extremist hate or violence. This measure goes beyond just Nazi memorabilia and includes other forms of extremist symbols. The proposal received a 133-38 vote with 17 abstentions in the National Council. The step to ban such symbols aims to combat hatred and violence in Switzerland, aligning the country with other European nations that have enacted similar bans.
German far-right politician Bjorn Hocke, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Thuringia, faces new criminal charges for using a banned Nazi slogan 'Everything for Germany!' Prosecutors in Halle have added a charge for using emblems of a former Nazi organization. Hocke, known for his extreme views, is scheduled to go on trial in mid-April. He has not admitted to the charges. The AfD, particularly in Thuringia, is considered a far-right extremist group. National polls show AfD in second place behind the conservative opposition, strong in the east.
Dr. Astrid Wagner, Josef Fritzl's Austrian lawyer, posted topless photos on social media while defending his client's bid for release from a high-security prison. Fritzl, who kept his daughter captive for 24 years, hopes to transfer to a normal jail due to dementia. Wagner's provocative posts have sparked controversy, with previous instances in 2015, 2017, and 2020. Despite backlash, Wagner defended her actions as normal, critiquing societal views on women's bodies. Fritzl's request to move to a regular prison was initially granted but later challenged, awaiting a new decision this month.
Braunau am Inn (German pronunciation: [ˈbʁaʊ̯naʊ̯ am ˈɪn] ; German for "Braunau on the Inn") is a town in Upper Austria on the border with Germany. It is known for being the birthplace of Adolf Hitler.
Adolf Hitler, chancellor and dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, committed suicide via a gunshot to the head on 30 April 1945 in the Führerbunker in Berlin after it became clear that Germany would lose the Battle of Berlin, which led to the end of World War II in Europe. Eva Braun, his wife of one day, also committed suicide by cyanide poisoning. In accordance with Hitler's prior written and verbal instructions, that afternoon their remains were carried up the stairs and through the bunker's emergency exit to the Reich Chancellery garden, where they were doused in petrol and burned. The news of Hitler's death was announced on German radio the next day, 1 May.Eyewitnesses who saw Hitler's body immediately after his suicide testified that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot, which has been established to have been a shot to the temple. Otto Günsche, Hitler's personal adjutant, who handled both bodies, testified that while Braun's smelled strongly of burnt almonds – an indication of cyanide poisoning – there was no such odour about Hitler's body, which smelled of gunpowder. Dental remains extracted from the soil in the garden were matched with Hitler's dental records in May 1945. The dental remains were later confirmed as being Hitler's.The Soviet Union restricted the release of information and released many conflicting reports about Hitler's death. Historians have largely rejected these as part of a deliberate disinformation campaign by Joseph Stalin to sow confusion regarding Hitler's death, or have attempted to reconcile them. Soviet records allege that the burnt remains of Hitler and Braun were recovered, despite eyewitness accounts that they were almost completely reduced to ashes. In June 1945, the Soviets began seeding two contradictory narratives: that Hitler died by taking cyanide and that he had survived and fled to another country. Following extensive review, West Germany issued a death certificate in 1956. Conspiracy theories about Hitler's death continue to attract interest.
Bjoern Hoecke, a prominent figure in Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party, is facing charges for the second time for uttering a Nazi slogan at a political event. Hoecke, the leader of the AfD in Thuringia, is set to go on trial ahead of a regional election where he aims to become the governor of the state.
Austria's Justice Minister Alma Zadic intends to strengthen espionage laws following the arrest of a former intelligence officer accused of spying for Russia. The country's criminal code currently restricts secret intelligence services detrimental to Austria or foreign entities, with penalties including prison sentences. Zadic aims for expanded legislation to combat foreign espionage, especially against international organizations based in Austria. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner advocates for harsher spying penalties and permission to monitor calls through messaging apps, contrasting with Green party reservations.
The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the Sieg Heil salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened hand. Usually, the person offering the salute would say "Heil Hitler!" ('Hail Hitler!'), "Heil, mein Führer!" ('Hail, my leader!'), or "Sieg Heil!" ('Hail victory!'). It was officially adopted by the Nazi Party in 1926, although it had been used within the party as early as 1921, to signal obedience to the party's leader, Adolf Hitler, and to glorify the German nation (and later the German war effort). The salute was mandatory for civilians but mostly optional for military personnel, who retained a traditional military salute until the failed assassination attempt on Hitler on 20 July 1944.Use of this salute is illegal in modern-day Germany (Strafgesetzbuch section 86a), Austria and Slovakia. The use of any Nazi phrases associated with the salute is also forbidden. In Italy, it is a criminal offence only if used with the intent to "reinstate the defunct National Fascist Party", or to exalt or promote its ideology or members. In Canada and most of Europe (including the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Russia), displaying the salute is not in itself a criminal offence, but constitutes hate speech if used for propagating the Nazi ideology. Publicly performing the salute is also illegal in Australia under Commonwealth law unless for a religious, academic, educational, artistic, literary or scientific purpose.
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to attack racial and ethnic minorities (often antisemitism and Islamophobia), and in some cases to create a fascist state.Neo-Nazism is a global phenomenon, with organized representation in many countries and international networks. It borrows elements from Nazi doctrine, including antisemitism, ultranationalism, racism, xenophobia, ableism, homophobia, anti-communism, and creating a "Fourth Reich". Holocaust denial is common in neo-Nazi circles.Neo-Nazis regularly display Nazi symbols and express admiration for Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders. In some European and Latin American countries, laws prohibit the expression of pro-Nazi, racist, antisemitic, or homophobic views. Nazi-related symbols are banned in many European countries (especially Germany) in an effort to curtail neo-Nazism.
The sexuality of Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945), dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, has long been a matter of historical and scholarly debate, as well as speculation and rumour. There is evidence that he had relationships with a number of women during his lifetime, as well as evidence of his antipathy to homosexuality, and no evidence of homosexual encounters. His name has been linked to a number of possible female lovers, two of whom committed suicide. A third died of complications eight years after a suicide attempt, and a fourth also attempted suicide.Hitler created a public image of a celibate man without a domestic life, dedicated entirely to his political mission and the governance of Nazi Germany. His relationship with Eva Braun, which lasted nearly 14 years, was hidden from the public and all but his inner circle. Braun biographer Heike Görtemaker notes that the couple enjoyed a normal sex life. Hitler and Braun married in late April 1945, less than 40 hours before committing suicide together.Two wartime reports by the Allies attempted to analyse Hitler psychologically. A 1943 report by Walter C. Langer for the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) describes Hitler as having repressed homosexual tendencies and opined that he was an impotent coprophile. Psychologist Henry Murray wrote a separate psychoanalytical report for the OSS in 1943 that drew similar conclusions. Otto Strasser, one of Hitler's opponents in the Nazi Party, also told his post-war interrogators a similar story. British historian Sir Ian Kershaw describes Strasser's statement as "anti-Hitler propaganda".In research following Hitler's death, a variety of claims have been made about Hitler's sexual orientation: that he was homosexual, bisexual, or asexual. Conclusive evidence is lacking, but most historians believe he was heterosexual. There is at least one claim that Hitler had an illegitimate child (named Jean-Marie Loret) with one of his lovers. Mainstream historians, such as Kershaw, dismiss this as unlikely or impossible.
Three German citizens were arrested in Germany for espionage for China, accused of spying and transferring information on technology with potential military uses since before June 2022. The suspects violated German export laws, with one serving as an agent for an employee of China's Ministry of State Security. The trio used a company in Duesseldorf to contact German researchers and procure innovative technologies. They were in negotiations for further research projects to enhance the Chinese navy's combat strength and illegally exported a special laser to China, classified as a dual-use instrument under EU rules.
Austria is embroiled in its largest espionage scandal in years following the arrest of a former intelligence officer, revealing significant Russian infiltration, poor official oversight, and intriguing spy-like activities.
Austrian former domestic security official Egisto Ott, detained for spying for Russia, allegedly passed information to fugitive Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek. Ott denies the accusations and is in custody, suspected of passing sensitive details to Russia. Austrian Chancellor Nehammer called it a threat to national security. The scandal has reignited concerns about Russian espionage in Austria, implicating the far-right Freedom Party and its leader Herbert Kickl. Several parties have called for a parliamentary inquiry. The Freedom Party opposes EU sanctions on Russia and has historical ties to Putin's United Russia party.
While there is no notable neo-Nazi movement in Taiwan, the use of Nazi symbolism and imagery in the country has been observed throughout the years, often causing controversy. Those occasions involve a Nazi themed parade at a school, restaurants serving dishes honouring Nazis or displaying Nazi-related pictures and other decor, which led to public outcries.
Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945, was also a painter. He produced hundreds of works when he tried to sell his paintings and postcards to earn a living during his Vienna years (1908–1913) but had little commercial success. A number of his paintings were recovered after the Second World War and have been sold at auctions for tens of thousands of dollars. Others were seized by the United States Army and are still in U.S. government possession.General opinion of his works is overwhelmingly negative; they have been described as cold and unfeeling, with many arguing that Hitler had some talent as an architect, but was lacking when describing natural elements such as trees or people.
By Holly Williams April 21, 2024 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News The names Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald are infamous as the scene of atrocities -- concentration camps, run by Adolf Hitler's notorious SS. But what you may be surprised to learn, as we were, is that two Nazi concentration camps were established on British soil in the Channel Islands, around 80 miles from the British mainland. The islands lie just off the coast of France, became possessions of the English crown around a thousand years ago and were occupied by Germany for nearly five years during World War II. Even in the United Kingdom many people don't know about the camps -- and as we discovered, exactly what happened there is hotly disputed. Holly Williams: It's pretty well hidden, isn't it? Marcus Roberts: Yeah, well, if you-- Holly Williams: It's all overgrown.
The propaganda of the Nazi regime that governed Germany from 1933 to 1945 promoted Nazi ideology by demonizing the enemies of the Nazi Party, notably Jews and communists, but also capitalists and intellectuals. It promoted the values asserted by the Nazis, including Heldentod (heroic death), Führerprinzip (leader principle), Volksgemeinschaft (people's community), Blut und Boden (blood and soil) and pride in the Germanic Herrenvolk (master race). Propaganda was also used to maintain the cult of personality around Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and to promote campaigns for eugenics and the annexation of German-speaking areas. After the outbreak of World War II, Nazi propaganda vilified Germany's enemies, notably the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, and in 1943 exhorted the population to total war.
Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday was celebrated as a national holiday throughout Nazi Germany on 20 April 1939. Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels made sure the events organised in Berlin were a lavish spectacle focusing on Hitler himself. The festivities included a military parade with some 40,000 to 50,000 German troops taking part, along with 162 Luftwaffe airplanes flying overhead. The parade was intended in part as a warning to the Allied powers of Nazi Germany's military capabilities. The parade lasted for more than four hours, with 20,000 official guests, along with several hundred thousand spectators being present.
The social policies of eugenics in Nazi Germany were composed of various ideas about genetics. The racial ideology of Nazism placed the biological improvement of the German people by selective breeding of "Nordic" or "Aryan" traits at its center. These policies were used to justify the involuntary sterilization and mass-murder of those deemed "undesirable".Eugenics research in Germany before and during the Nazi period was similar to that in the United States (particularly California), by which it had been heavily inspired. However, its prominence rose sharply under Adolf Hitler's leadership when wealthy Nazi supporters started heavily investing in it. The programs were subsequently shaped to complement Nazi racial policies.Those targeted for murder under Nazi eugenics policies were largely people living in private and state-operated institutions, identified as "life unworthy of life" (Lebensunwertes Leben). They included prisoners, degenerates, dissidents, and people with congenital cognitive and physical disabilities (Erbkranken) – people who were considered to be feeble-minded. In fact being diagnosed with "feeblemindedness" (German: Schwachsinn) was the main label approved in forced sterilization, which included people who were diagnosed by a doctor as, or otherwise seemed to be:EpilepticSchizophrenicManic-depressive (now known as bipolar)Suffering from Cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophyDeaf and/or blindHomosexual or "transvestites" (which at the time was used to refer to intersex and transgender people, particularly trans women)Anyone else considered to be idle, insane, and/or weak as per "feeblemindedness"All of these were targeted for elimination from the chain of heredity. More than 400,000 people were sterilized against their will, while up to 300,000 were murdered under the Aktion T4 euthanasia program. Thousands more also died from complications of the forced surgeries, the majority being women from forced tubal ligations. In June 1935, Hitler and his cabinet made a list of seven new decrees, in which number 5 was to speed up the investigations of sterilization.An attempt to relieve the overcrowding of psychiatric hospitals, in fact, played a significant role in Germany's decision to institute compulsory sterilization and, later, the killing of psychiatric patients. [...] Hitler's letter authorizing the program to kill mental patients was dated September 1, 1939, the day German forces invaded Poland. Although the program never officially became law, Hitler guaranteed legal immunity for everyone who took part in it.In German, the concept of "eugenics" was mostly known under the term of Rassenhygiene or "racial hygiene". The loanword Eugenik was in occasional use, as was its closer loan-translation of Erbpflege. An alternative term was Volksaufartung (approximately "racial improvement").
Nazi chic is the use of style, imagery, and paraphernalia in clothing and popular culture related to Nazi-era Germany, especially when used for taboo-breaking or shock value rather than out of genuine support of Nazism or Nazi ideology.Its popularity began in the 1970s with the emergence of the Heavy metal, punk and glam rock movements: the Sex Pistols' first television appearance occurred with a person of their entourage wearing a swastika. Nazi chic was later used in the fashion industry. The trend, while having originated in the Western culture, by the late 20th and early 21st century became particularly popular in Asia. Nazi chic also partly inspired some of the fashion of the leather subculture.
The Hitler family comprises the relatives and ancestors of Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945), an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the Nazi Party, who was the dictator of Germany, holding the title Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state as Führer und Reichskanzler from 1934 to 1945. Adolf Hitler had a central role in the rise of Nazism in Germany, provoking the start of World War II, and holding ultimate responsibility for the deaths of many millions of people during the Holocaust.The family has long been of interest to historians and genealogists because of the biological uncertainty of Hitler's paternal grandfather, as well as the family's inter-relationships and their psychological effect on Hitler during his childhood and later life.Alois Schicklgruber (Adolf's father) changed his surname on 7 January 1877 to "Hitler", which was the only form of the last name that his son Adolf used. Before Adolf Hitler's birth, his family used many variations of the family surname "Hitler" almost interchangeably. Some of the common variants were, Hiedler, Hüttler, Hytler, and Hittler.
Austria will enhance police checks near its border with Germany following Germany's legalization of limited cannabis possession for recreational use. Germany now permits adults to have up to 25 grams of marijuana, grow three plants, and join cannabis-growing clubs. Austria, which maintains strict cannabis laws, aims to prevent cross-border trade. Police will intensify checks to deter drug-impaired driving. European countries vary in their cannabis regulations. Austria's Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner, emphasized the importance of road user safety.
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna later in the first decade of the 1900s before moving to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I. In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was appointed leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, serving just over a year of his sentence. While there, he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"). After his early release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. He frequently denounced capitalism and communism as part of an international Jewish conspiracy.By November 1932, the Nazi Party held the most seats in the Reichstag but did not have a majority. No political parties were able to form a majority coalition in support of a candidate for chancellor. Former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly thereafter, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933 which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism. Upon Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934, Hitler succeeded him, becoming simultaneously the head of state and government with absolute power. Domestically, Hitler implemented numerous racist policies and sought to deport or kill German Jews. His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the Great Depression, the abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans, which initially gave him significant popular support.One of Hitler's key goals was Lebensraum (lit. 'living space') for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive, expansionist foreign policy is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe. He directed large-scale rearmament and, on 1 September 1939, invaded Poland, resulting in Britain and France declaring war on Germany. In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union. In December 1941, he declared war on the United States. By the end of 1941, German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa. These gains were gradually reversed after 1941, and in 1945 the Allied armies defeated the German army. On 29 April 1945, he married his long-term partner, Eva Braun, in the Führerbunker in Berlin. On the following day, the couple committed suicide to avoid capture by the Soviet Red Army. In accordance with Hitler's wishes, their corpses were burned.The historian and biographer Ian Kershaw describes Hitler as "the embodiment of modern political evil". Under Hitler's leadership and racist ideology, the Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of an estimated six million Jews and millions of other victims, whom he and his followers deemed Untermenschen (subhumans) or socially undesirable. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the deliberate killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European theatre. The number of civilians killed during World War II was unprecedented in warfare, and the casualties constitute the deadliest conflict in history.
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, is a term used to describe the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945, after only 12 years, when the Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin, ending World War II in Europe.After Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party began to eliminate political opposition and consolidate power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator by merging the powers of the chancellery and presidency. A 1934 German referendum confirmed Hitler as sole Führer (leader). Power was centralised in Hitler's person, and his word became the highest law. The government was not a coordinated, cooperating body, but rather a collection of factions struggling to amass power. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending. Financed by deficit spending, the regime undertook extensive public works projects, including the Autobahnen (motorways) and a massive secret rearmament program, forming the Wehrmacht (armed forces). The return to economic stability boosted the regime's popularity. Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands, threatening war if they were not met. Germany seized Austria in the Anschluss of 1938, and demanded and received the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Germany signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, launching World War II in Europe. In alliance with Italy and other Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940 and threatened Great Britain.Racism, Nazi eugenics, anti-Slavism, and especially antisemitism were central ideological features of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the "master race", the purest branch of the Aryan race. Jews, Romani people, Slavs, homosexuals, liberals, socialists, communists, other political opponents, Jehovah Witnesses, those who refused to work, and other "undesirables" were imprisoned, exiled, or murdered. Christian churches and citizens that opposed Hitler's rule were oppressed and leaders imprisoned. Education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed. Nazi Propaganda Ministry disseminated films, antisemitic canards, and organized mass rallies; fostering a pervasive cult of personality around Adolf Hitler to influence public opinion. The government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Genocide, mass murder, and large-scale forced labour became hallmarks of the regime; the implementation of the regime's racial policies culminated in the Holocaust.After the initial success of German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Nazi Germany attempted to implement the Generalplan Ost and Hunger Plan, as part of its war of extermination in Eastern Europe. The Soviet resurgence and entry of the US into the war meant Germany lost the initiative in 1943, and by late 1944 had been pushed back to the 1939 border. Large-scale aerial bombing of Germany escalated and the Axis powers were driven back in Eastern and Southern Europe. After the Allied invasion of France, Germany was conquered by the Soviet Union from the east and the other Allies from the west, and capitulated on 8 May 1945. Hitler's refusal to admit defeat led to massive destruction of German infrastructure and additional war-related deaths in the closing months of the war. The Allies initiated a policy of denazification and put many of the surviving Nazi leadership on trial for war crimes at the Nuremberg trials.
The religious beliefs of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, have been a matter of debate. His opinions regarding religious matters changed considerably over time. During the beginning of his political life, Hitler publicly expressed favorable opinions towards Christianity, but later totally rejected it. Most historians describe his later posture as adversarial to organized Christianity and established Christian denominations. He also criticized atheism.Hitler was born to a practicing Catholic mother, Klara Hitler, and was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church; his father, Alois Hitler, was a free-thinker and skeptical of the Catholic Church. In 1904, he was confirmed at the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Linz, Austria, where the family lived. According to John Willard Toland, witnesses indicate that Hitler's confirmation sponsor had to "drag the words out of him ... almost as though the whole confirmation was repugnant to him". Hitler biographer John Toland offers the opinion that Hitler "carried within him its teaching that the Jew was the killer of God. The extermination, therefore, could be done without a twinge of conscience since he was merely acting as the avenging hand of God ..." Rissmann notes that, according to several witnesses who lived with Hitler in a men's home in Vienna, he never again attended Mass or received the sacraments after leaving home at 18 years old.In a speech in the early years of his rule, Hitler declared himself "not a Catholic, but a German Christian". The German Christians were a Protestant group that supported Nazi Ideology. Hitler and the Nazi Party also promoted "nondenominational" positive Christianity, a movement which rejected most traditional Christian doctrines such as the divinity of Jesus, as well as Jewish elements such as the Old Testament. In one widely quoted remark, he described Jesus as an "Aryan fighter" who struggled against "the power and pretensions of the corrupt Pharisees" and Jewish materialism. Hitler spoke often of Protestantism and Lutheranism, stating, "Through me the Evangelical Protestant Church could become the established church, as in England" and that the "great reformer" Martin Luther "has the merit of rising against the Pope and the Catholic Church".Hitler's regime launched an effort toward coordination of German Protestants into a joint Protestant Reich Church (but this was resisted by the Confessing Church), and moved early to eliminate political Catholicism. Even though Nazi leadership was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, Hitler agreed to the Reich concordat with the Vatican, but then routinely ignored it, and permitted persecutions of the Catholic Church. Several historians have insisted that Hitler and his inner circle were influenced by other religions. In a eulogy for a friend, Hitler called on him to enter Valhalla but he later stated that it would be foolish to re-establish the worship of Odin (or Wotan) within Germanic paganism. Most historians argue he was prepared to delay conflicts for political reasons and that his intentions were to eventually eliminate Christianity in Germany, or at least reform it to suit a Nazi outlook.
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