Newly published Nazi archives reveal the regime’s disdain for the Church of Jesus Christ

November 15, 2024

Germany’s Nazi government viewed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with a mixture of suspicion and disdain, according to a recently uncovered dossier.

The Deseret News has published an article by Josh Coates and Stephen Smoot detailing the insights of nearly 500 pages of newly published Gestapo files on the Third Reich’s scrutiny of the LDS Church between 1933 and 1939.

Latter-day Saints comprised a small religious community in pre-war Germany and faced a profound dilemma under the Nazi regime.

The Deseret News reports that, while a small minority of LDS church members embraced Nazism, the dossier shows that most German church members was forced to walk a fine line between cautious compliance and quiet defiance.

When Hitler came to power in 1933, Gestapo officials were assured that the church maintained political neutrality and subservience to the law. However, Nazi officials were skeptical and warned church leaders that the “strictest state police measures” awaited if even a hint of opposition was detected.

To that end, the regime began monitoring worship meetings, missionary activity, church publications and individual members. The Gestapo also infiltrated even benign church activities, arrested missionaries and banned church literature.

A 1938 memorandum prepared for Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg declared that “the doctrine of the Mormons is incompatible with the National Socialist worldview.”

According to the Deseret News, church members were instructed to focus on spiritual growth rather than on political matters as a means of preserving their faith community during a particularly dark chapter of history.

Photo: top, Credit: Associated Press