what about hitler?
Never fails. Whenever I'm in a conversation with someone about whether or not Hell is actually a thing, at some point in the conversation Hitler is brought up as the poster child of Hell's most deserving resident. And for a long time, I had no good answer for that. Until I studied church history. This seemingly unrelated study launched me into a deep dive that ultimately shifted my perspective on one of modern history's most well known villains. Oh, he's still a villain, don't get me wrong. But there's more to the story than meets the eye. There are many factors to look at, but we are going to discuss four.
antisemitism and the church
What I accidently stumbled across is that persecution and hatred of the Jewish people can be sourced directly back to the church. Also called "the longest hatred," religious antisemitism began very early - within 100 years after Jesus. Christians began referring to them as the "Christ-killers" and as in most cases of religious bigotry, persecution and misguided intolerance (current and historical), they had Bible verses to back them up.
Honestly, I had never even heard the term 'deicide' before traveling down this course of study! Apparently this is the word for the theological stand that the Jewish people are collectively responsible for killing Jesus, and always will be, in perpetuity. We can see this stand beginning to take place in the church as early as the 2nd century in the writings of several prominent church leaders. From there, it spread out of the church and into the culture as a whole as the church started to establish itself.
Throughout Europe, as the Christian Church came into power, it's hatred of the Jews showed through in the laws they created and enforced. In many countries, they were not allowed to own land, therefore could not grow food. They were not allowed to join craftsmen guilds run by Christians. There were laws concerning where Jews could and could not work or live, and even what they must wear. By the 1200's it was common to see a specific hat on their head or a badge displayed on their clothing to identify that they were Jewish. (sound familiar??)
The church took every opportunity to slander the Jews, and accuse them of heinous crimes and vulgar acts of witchcraft (with zero evidence), repeatedly resulting in acts of violence against them. Some examples:
-
Blood Libels: (accusing Jews of using the blood of Christians for rituals or to drink in mockery of the eucharist) In 1144, Monk Thomas of Monmouth blamed the murder of a 12-yr old boy on the Jews, claiming they used his blood in rituals. There was no actual evidence of this, however accusations of ritual murders of children began spreading like wildfire, resulting in the fear and murder of 1000's of innocent Jews.
-
In the 1200's, a 'creative' smear campaign surfaced - the church began displaying offensive pictures of Jews with pigs (unclean in Jewish tradition) called "Judensau" on the inside and outside of their cathedrals.
-
The Crusades, while not formally against the Jews, were devastating to their population. During the quest to conquer their enemies in a "convert or die" tactic, many of the soldiers routed their march through known Jewish communities and decimated them. It is unclear where the orders to do so came from, but each time a new set of Crusaders were sent out, Jewish communities suffered greatly, some communities being wiped out completely.
-
In 1298, Lord Rintfleisch claimed he had a mandate from the Lord to exterminate the Jews. His band of companions were called the Rintfleisch Knights. They decimated 146 Jewish communities. It is estimated that up to 100,000 Jews were brutally attacked and killed by the Rintfleisch knights, in the name of God. Sadly, there are several other stories of religious vigilantes rising up against those they saw as the "Christ-killers."
-
In 1349, when the Black Plague took Europe by storm, in France they were so convinced that this was the work of the Jews that they (the church/state) tortured them until they confessed to their crimes. One of the 'confessions' was that the Jews, in collusion with the devil, poisoned all the wells to kill the Christians. Entire Jewish communities were slaughtered due to these confessions. Upon hearing this, the city of Strasbourg burned 900 Jews alive in an attempt to avoid the plague. There are similar stories in other cities - where fear and hatred sparked bloody massacres of their Jewish residents.
-
Expulsion. Between 1290-1394, England, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany all issued decrees of expulsion to the Jews. Usually these decrees came with 3 options: Convert to Christianity, leave or die.
-
"The Jewish Oath" - because the prevailing public opinion towards the Jew was so low, their testimony was not allowed in court in many countries. Not to mention, they were not even allowed to bring charges against a Christian. In many places however, courts made a work-around developing "The Jewish Oath." If Jewish testimony was to be heard, the Jew had to suffer through humiliating and often painful rituals while being sworn in. Such as, being made to grovel on his knees while thorn branches were pulled up between his legs as he's being sworn in, or wearing a girdle of thorns or a necklace or thorns while being sworn in; or having to shave his head or stand on a bloody pig skin or stand on a 3 legged stool being fined for every time he toppled... The list goes on and on. Unbelievably, in many places this practice was continued late into the 1800s and early 1900s.
-
And then there's Martin Luther, renowned German leader of the Protestant Reformation who published "On the Jews and Their Lies" in 1543. In this scathing treatise, he called them "these poisonous envenomed worms," "base, whoring people," "full of the devil's feces ... which they wallow in like Jewish swine," and that we (Christians) are "at fault for not slaying them." (This publication was one of Hitler's prized possessions, and was one of the primary documents that made up the backbone to the church movement endorsed by the Nazi party called "German Christians." It was also commonly seen and distributed at Nazi rallies.) In his treatise, Luther wrote that Protestants should:
-
"First, we set fire to their synagogues or schools ... This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians ..."
-
"Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed."
-
"Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them."
-
"Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb ..."
-
"Fifth, I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside ..."
-
"Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them ..."
-
"Seventh, I recommend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow ... But if we are afraid that they might harm us or our wives, children, servants, cattle, etc., ... then let us emulate the common sense of other nations such as France, Spain, Bohemia, etc., ... then eject them forever from the country ..."
-
Unfortunately, there's much more I could say about the Church's role in creating a culture of antisemitism... It's a devastating, not well known undercurrent in the history of the church. But let's move on to factor number two.
eugenics
In addition to the antisemitism that was permeating the European culture, eugenics was a hot topic worldwide. The desire to create a stronger, more "pure" society via forced sterilization, segregation and euthanasia was irresistible and many countries had already begun putting eugenics into practice with mass sterilization campaigns. Most of Europe along with Canada and the United States were already on track to normalize the idea of sterilization of its most "undesirable" residents. Not only in practice, but with propaganda campaigns to manipulate public support. For example, if you've ever been to a county or state fair, you know that in the agricultural buildings there are blue ribbon farm animals on display, primarily judged on their breeding potential and the ability to produce superior offspring. During this season in American history, individuals and families in 40 states were competing in eugenics competitions called "Fitter Family" contests, where they were judged based on their psychiatric evaluations and ability to produce the most "ideal qualities" in their children, which were, of course determined by the government. (For more about this topic, go here and here and here.) By the time Hitler came into power in 1933, the Americans were leading the world in eugenics policy and practice (having forcibly sterilized 1000's of people) and Hitler himself had been not only watching, but also been corresponding with several American doctors, lawyers, and politicians concerning our 'progress.' His intimate knowledge of American eugenics policies is evident in his manifesto, Mein Kampf, as well as in recorded conversations and letters where he references the US with admiration for our progressive eugenics activity, and it was the US that Hitler credited modeling Germany's eugenics program after. Granted, he took it to the extreme during his 12 years in power. His practices of identification, segregation, sterilization, and euthanasia eventually led to medical experimentation and mass termination in gas chambers. You might be surprised to learn that American eugenicists welcomed Hitler's plans and saw them as the ultimate outcome and fulfillment of their own efforts. In fact, Joseph Dejarnette, superintendent of Virginia's Western State Hospital, wrote in the Richmond Times-Dispatch concerning Hitler's eugenics practices: "The Germans are beating us at our own game."
worldwide rejection of the jews
Factor #3. A little timeline refresher for you. Hitler took power in 1933 and his reign ended in 1945. The first few years of his reign, he saw enthusiast support for his promises of a restored and even stronger Germany. By some accounts, he was seen as a hero, swooping in to rescue Germany and build it back up. However, somewhere around 1937, public opinion of him had deteriorated as his tactics became more aggressive. By this time, Jewish people were desperately trying to escape his grasp. In 1938, 32 countries (including the US and Canada) plus several relief organizations met in France to discuss the German-Jewish refugees. With the exception 1000 refugees accepted by the Dominican Republic, not one single country was willing to accept the refugees, that at that time Hitler was willing to allow to re-locate. NOT ONE SINGLE COUNTRY!! The entire world turned their back and left the Jews to their fate within Hitler's regime. To be fair, at this time, no one knew the full extent of what this would mean to the Jews, but they did know he was targeting them. And although there were many good people who didn't buy into the national and cultural antisemitism, there was very little pushback on the policy of the removal of the "Christ-killers" inside and outside of Germany. Remember, several countries had ejected the Jews from their own borders not too long ago!
the lullaby effect
Rabbi Dr. Samuel Landau warns us about the 'lullaby effect' when reading the Bible. The idea is that we have heard the stories so much that we fail to really think about what it is that they are saying. As in the lullabies we sing to children, the most famous being "Rock-a-bye Baby." Have you ever really thought about the lyrics?
"...When the wind blows,
the cradle will fall,
and down will come baby,
cradle and all."
That's a little morbid to be singing to our precious helpless babies, isn't it?? It's the lullaby effect that keeps us from really thinking about some of the harder passages we read in the Bible. For example, when we read about Noah's Ark, we focus on Noah and his family and the animals, and maybe we get a little caught up with the logistics of that boat... But very rarely do we really think about the fact that it says that our God purposely drowned the entire population of the earth. Men, women, children, babies, animals! Only ONE man in all the world was found worthy of saving. What the what?? If this were carried out by a human ruler, wouldn't he rank up there with Hitler as one of history's most notorious villains?
Or what about these passages?
This is beyond eugenics, this is genocide! If we are to believe that the Lord actually said these things, and expected it to be carried out, is he any better than Hitler? We tend to avoid thinking about these hard questions because we can't reconcile them in our mind. So we ignore them. Skim past them. We are taught that "his ways are higher than our ways" and need to just have faith... I'm calling bull$#!% on that. These actions are atrocities of the highest order. Do I think God actually committed these atrocities? No, I do not. These actions are inconsistent with the nature of a loving God - but that's a different truth quest study. The point here is that the majority of Christians are willing to accept that God did these things. We shrug our shoulders at God's directive to "kill men, women, infants and nursing babies" to help His own people thrive, but condemn the man who did kill men, women, infants and nursing babies to help his own people thrive. Isn't that a head scratcher?
wrap it up
Let's take a minute to consider the after. Once the world fully saw where the path of their well-meaning eugenics practices led once fully realized, the outspoken advocates for the practice slunk into the shadows, and all those forced sterilization, selective breeding, and infanticide policies and practices that were rapidly on their way to becoming standard practice, were quietly packed away. Most Americans don't even realize that we were once the global leaders on the up and coming eugenics stage, and that it was our laws and practices that Hitler openly praised and used as a foundation and launching pad for his own more aggressive campaigns. No, no, no... we effectively scrubbed that bit of our story out of the history books. Collectively, the entire world took an about face on that topic and thankfully, it faded into oblivion.
When the full scope of what had happened to the people groups that the Nazi's deemed undesirable was discovered, the world's collective shock and regret helped to form the United Nations and new policies on taking in refugees were written. The countries that had rejected them just a few years earlier, were now accepting them with open arms by the 1000's. It also became clear, that after being a targeted and rejected minority all over Europe and the Middle East for 100's of years they desperately needed a place of their own and in 1948, the State of Israel was established, providing a homeland for all the displaced Jews of the world.
And when the dust settled and the church realized the horror that their centuries old campaign of hatred had led to, it was a wake up call. As a direct result of this, in 1947, the world's church leaders, both Catholic and Protestant held a week long "Emergency Conference on Anti-Semitism" in Switzerland. One result of this conference was the formation of the International Council of Christians and Jews, effectively inviting Jewish Rabbis to the table, so to speak. The other result was a proclamation called "The Ten Points of Seelisberg," (listed below) which was a call to action and the outline of a campaign for undoing some bad theology, and teaching a new attitude of love and respect for the Jewish people. These actions were so successful that in just one generation, most people in the church had no idea that not long ago, the church was guilty of sanctioning, advocating and committing horrible atrocities towards the Jews. Nowadays, where the church used to post signs depicting disrespect to the Jews, it's common to see "We stand with Israel!" posted on church grounds. And thankfully, now that we are finally listening to them, the Jewish teachers and Rabbis are teaching us SO much about understanding the Old Testament that we were missing completely!!
The trajectory of human history was altered as a direct result of Hitler's unspeakable atrocities. There's a Chinese proverb called "Good News, Bad News, Who Can Say?" The moral of the proverb is that what seems like good news, might actually end up being not-so-good; and that good can actually result from something really bad. Nothing about what Hitler did is acceptable or good in any way, yet amazingly, we can clearly see that good things did spring up from that soil. How many millions of future lives were affected by the fact that the global eugenics train was derailed? While it was a horrific price to pay, and I am not trying to downplay or diminish their suffering at at all, but consider how the Holocaust radically changed the world's overall treatment of Jews. For hundreds of years, they were stigmatized, reviled, discriminated against, rejected, and attacked as the Christ-killers.
As we think about the effect Hitler's actions had on these things, consider these verses:
asking the hard questions
Now I'm not a Calvinist, who believes in predestination, but I do believe we each have a potential purpose. And if we don't accomplish that purpose, someone else will. The mission will be accomplished, whether you step up or you don't. We, individually, are not going alter or affect God's design or His plan. He's not sitting on His throne stressing about whether or not we are going to mess things up. With that in mind, what if Hitler was just a vessel God assigned for "dishonorable use," as Paul called it, "for such a time as this"? What if we had gotten so far off the path, that we needed a great tragedy, to be shocked and devastated into changing our course? Isn't this the story of the Flood? And of the Tower of Babel? And the Israelites wandering for 40 years, allowing an entire generation to die before they could move on? And the many times God's chosen people suffered in captivity? Wasn't the point of all of these things because the people had strayed so far off course that they needed drastic corrective measures? Look back at Job - in this well known Bible story, satan is presented not as not God's enemy, but 'employed' in His court as the accuser. It was (is?) his assigned role to play. In this role, he devastated Job and his family, with God's permission. (Another case of the Lullaby Effect??) We have to stop applying our own limited human judgments on people and situations. Especially as Americans, where we think justice must be punitive, rather than reformative. What if we had repeatedly ignored His attempts to correct our course; didn't listen to the voices He raised up in opposition of the antisemitism and eugenics and violent path we were on? And what if the role Hitler played was sanctioned by a God who loves humanity enough to save us from our own bad choices, even by drastic measures of Biblical tragedy proportions? If that is the case, would He then torture him in Hell forever, for carrying out the role he was assigned? That hardly seems fair, does it? Is that the kind of God you serve? One that asks a terrible thing of you, and then punishes you for eternity when you comply? We are willing to accept the Bible stories where God stepped into history at certain points and allowed terrible atrocities for the ultimate purpose of our own betterment, as long as those things didn't happen in our own lifetime. Would the Holocaust be one of those Bible stories we read impassively if it had happened 100's or 1000's of years ago and we were given a narrative as to the why it was allowed to happen?
OK - so let's get back to the point. I said we were going to discuss 4 factors, and we've only discussed 3. The whole idea of eternal torment is at question here, not just whether or not Hitler deserves it. The 4th point is: Where does it say in the Bible that you are sent to Hell to be tormented eternally because you were a monster in life? It actually doesn't say that anywhere. Of course, ultimately I advocate against the theology of Hell altogether, but even if you aren't willing to go that far, you have to agree that the Bible doesn't call for eternal torment based on how wicked you are. Proper Hell theology calls for eternal punishment for rejecting Jesus. There are no Dante type levels of punishment. It's like being pregnant. You are, or you're not. You are either going to Hell, or you're not - and that is determined 100% by your response to Jesus. So, again, back to the question, what about Hitler? Nothing he did in life matters in the question of eternity, except his response to Jesus. Right? That's what your Hell theology would tell you. One could argue that his reverence for Martin Luther and his belief that the Jews were the "Christ-killers" proved that he actually DID believe in Jesus. Why would you hate the Christ killers, if you didn't believe in the Christ? And what about Martin Luther? Calling for the mistreatment and murder of the Jewish people while representing the church!? Does he get a Hell-pass despite this because he chose Jesus? Or does he get a Hell-pass for not actually being the one who did the murdering? Well, one could argue the same for Hitler. Both sanctioned the murders, without being the one who pulled the trigger. What about the many, many others that murdered Jews in the name of the church, like Lord Rintfleisch and his Knights? They claimed to be representing God in their actions... Do they get a Hell-pass because they were "following Jesus" so well?? I think you can see the dilemma here. If we are going to say Hitler deserves Hell for his actions, then we have to follow that reasoning and say the Martin Luther and all the many other murderers deserve Hell for their actions too. But if we say that they get a pass for believing in Jesus - despite their actions - then we just might have to give Hitler that same pass. But wait - let's not stop there! Let's talk about the Jews themselves. Proper Hell theology states that you go to Hell for rejecting Jesus... THIS is the exact reason the Jews were persecuted so severely - because they REJECTED Christ as the Messiah. SO you're saying, that Martin Luther and Lord Rintfleisch get a Hell-pass for accepting Jesus and ALL the Jews went to Hell because they rejected Him? I know that's a tough pill to swallow, but the same rule has to apply across the board, and when you start really asking the hard questions it becomes a little less clear who should be in Hell and who shouldn't. MAYBE we need to really think about the concept of Hell as we were taught it. MAYBE we've been the wrong questions.
Side note... Have you ever read "The Shack" by William P. Young? Nothing I have read or watched has been so successful in driving the point home that we absolutely cannot take up the role of judge, jury and executioner of our fellow humans. I highly recommend this book. It is life-altering, IMHO.
The Ten Points of Seelisberg
Issued by the International Council of Christians and Jews
August 5, 1947
-
Remember that One God speaks to us all through the Old and the New Testaments.
-
Remember that Jesus was born of a Jewish mother of the seed of David and the people of Israel, and that His everlasting love and forgiveness embraces His own people and the whole world.
-
Remember that the first disciples, the apostles and the first martyrs were Jews.
-
Remember that the fundamental commandment of Christianity, to love God and one's neighbour, proclaimed already in the Old Testament and confirmed by Jesus, is binding upon both Christians and Jews in all human relationship, without any exception.
-
Avoid distorting or misrepresenting biblical or post-biblical Judaism with the object of extolling Christianity.
-
Avoid using the word Jews in the exclusive sense of the enemies of Jesus and the words The Enemies of Jesus to designate the whole Jewish people.
-
Avoid presenting the Passion in such a way as to bring the odium of the killing of Jesus upon all Jews or upon Jews alone. It was only a section of the Jews in Jerusalem who demanded the death of Jesus, and the Christian message has always been that it was the sins of mankind which were exemplified by those Jews and the sins in which all men share that brought Christ to the Cross.
-
Avoid referring to the scriptural curses, or the cry of a raging mob: His Blood be Upon Us and Our Children, without remembering that this cry should not count against the infinitely more weighty words of our Lord: Father Forgive Them, for They Know not What They Do.
-
Avoid promoting the superstitious notion that the Jewish people are reprobate, accursed, reserved for a destiny of suffering.
-
Avoid speaking of the Jews as if the first members of the Church had not been Jews.
For more detailed information on the topics above:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_antisemitism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judensau
https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/why-did-hitler-hate-jews/
https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/anti-semitism/medieval-antisemitism/the-crusades/
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/feb/06/race.usa
https://www.ajc.org/news/understanding-the-origins-of-antisemitism
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/topics_fs.pl?theme=8
https://www.amphilsoc.org/search/node?keys=eugenics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_United_States
https://www.thejc.com/judaism/the-lullaby-effect-that-stops-us-reading-torah-fie3wgy7
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/christian-churches-antisemitism-new-teachings
https://www.ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/documents-and-statements/ecumenical-christian/seelisberg
-
"I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you ... You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him." (John 8:37–39, 44–47, RSV)
-
After Pilate washes his hands and declares himself innocent of Jesus' blood, the Jewish crowd answers him, "His blood be on us and on our children!" (Matthew 27:25, RSV)
-
"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." (Acts 7:51–53, RSV)
Exodus 9:12 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.
Exodus 10:1-2 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
Paul writes in Romans 9:17–22: “Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills.” Later, Paul adds, “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”
“However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. You must completely destroy them – the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite ….” (Deut. 20:16-18)
“Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.” (1 Sam 15:3)

A Eugenics display at a US State Fair.