February 1, 1933 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer Issues Radio Message against Hitler
As Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime began to consolidate power in Germany, few individuals were willing to publicly renounce the growing dictatorship. However, one Lutheran pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, courageously delivered a national radio address against the Nazi regime on February 1, 1933. Through this address, he warned against the perils of placing faith in a leader rather than in Christ Jesus. Speaking to an audience suppressed under the power of Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer’s warning against the idolatry of power did not relate to his audience as a mere religious sentiment but as a direct attack on Hitler’s leadership. This address was one of the earliest examples of Christian resistance to Nazism. Bonhoeffer later became a spy and an organizer of the Confessing Church, an underground movement that opposed Nazi control of the German Protestant Church, and he participated in numerous efforts to sabotage the regime, including assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler. Because of his resistance, Bonhoeffer was incarcerated and executed by hanging in a Nazi concentration camp in April 1945, just two weeks before liberation.
Bonhoeffer’s opposition to Hitler continues to be relevant to Christians today. He cautioned against placing ultimate hope in human leaders, reminding Christians, both now and then, that Christ alone is the Lord, not a state or ideology. Furthermore, he remains an example of the cost of discipleship, as following Jesus often requires personal risk and sacrifice. Christians are called to represent Christ even when it is uncomfortable, or in Bonhoeffer’s case, dangerous. Bonhoeffer illustrated a faith lived publicly. The Church has a role in holding power accountable, and his story challenges modern-day Christians to apply biblical ethics to the realities of the world today.
Photograph from the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), Bild 146-1987-074-16. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Germany (CC BY-SA 3.0 DE).
