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Shaken by military defeat and economic depression after War World I, Germans sought to restore their nation's dignity and power. In this context the National Socialist Party, with its promise of a revivified Germany, drew supporters. Among the most zealous were a number of Catholic clergymen known as "brown priests" who volunteered as Nazi propagandists. In this insightful study, Spicer unearths a dark subchapter in Roman Catholic history, introduces the principal clergymen who participated in the Nazi movement, examines their motives, details their advocacy of National Socialism, and explores the consequences of their political activism.Some brown priests, particularly war veterans, advocated National Socialism because it appealed to their patriotic ardor. Others had less laudatory motives: disaffection with clerical life, conflicts with Church superiors, or ambition for personal power and fame. Whatever their individual motives, they employed their skills as orators, writers, and teachers to proclaim the message of Nazism. Especially during the early 1930s, when the Church forbade membership in the party, these clergymen strove to prove that Catholicism was compatible with National Socialism, thereby justifying their support of Nazi ideology. Father Dr. Philipp Haeuser, a scholar and pastor, went so far as to promote antisemitism while deifying Adolf Hitler. The Führer's antisemitism, Spicer argues, did not deter clergymen such as Haeuser because, although the Church officially rejected the Nazis' extreme racism, Catholic teachings tolerated hostility toward Jews by blaming them for Christ's crucifixion.While a handful of brown priests enjoyed the forbearance of their bishops, others endured reprimand or even dismissal; a few found new vocations with the Third Reich. After the fall of the Reich, the most visible brown priests faced trial for their part in the crimes of National Socialism, a movement they had once so earnestly supported.In addition to this intriguing history about clergymen trying to reconcile faith and politics, Spicer provides a master list—verified by extensive research in Church and government archives—of Catholic clergy who publicly supported National Socialism.

Church and state --- National socialism and religion. --- Antisemitism --- History --- Catholic Church --- Catholic Church --- Clergy --- History --- History --- Germany --- Church history --- brown priests as Nazi propagandists, clergymen who participated in the Nazi movement, Catholicism and National Socialist Party.

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Much has been written about the conditions that made possible Hitler's rise and the Nazi takeover of Germany, but when we tell the story of the National Socialist Party, should we not also speak of Julius Caesar and Pericles? Greeks, Romans, Germans argues that to fully understand the racist, violent end of the Nazi regime, we must examine its appropriation of the heroes and lessons of the ancient world. When Hitler told the assembled masses that they were a people with no past, he meant that they had no past following their humiliation in World War I of which to be proud. The Nazis' constant use of classical antiquity-in official speeches, film, state architecture, the press, and state-sponsored festivities-conferred on them the prestige and heritage of Greece and Rome that the modern German people so desperately needed. At the same time, the lessons of antiquity served as a warning: Greece and Rome fell because they were incapable of protecting the purity of their blood against mixing and infiltration. To regain their rightful place in the world, the Nazis had to make all-out war on Germany's enemies, within and without.

National socialism. --- Civilization, Classical --- Classical civilization --- Civilization, Ancient --- Classicism --- Nazism --- Authoritarianism --- Fascism --- Nazis --- Neo-Nazism --- Totalitarianism --- World War, 1939-1945 --- Influence. --- Causes --- Germany --- Third Reich, 1933-1945 --- History --- National socialism --- Influence --- ancient greece. --- ancient rome. --- ancient world. --- antiquity. --- architecture. --- classical antiquity. --- european history. --- fascism. --- fascist. --- film. --- german film. --- german politics. --- german propaganda. --- germany. --- heritage. --- hitler. --- julius caesar. --- national socialist party. --- nazi germany. --- nazi party. --- nazis. --- pericles. --- politics. --- propaganda film. --- propaganda. --- racism. --- racist. --- wartime. --- world war 1. --- world war 2. --- wwi. --- wwii.