Atoning for the Sins of the Fatherland

Abstract

Germany’s Ecumenical Sisterhood of Mary and its resident theologian, Mother Basilea Schlink, sought to intercede in repentance on behalf of their nation for its sins in the Holocaust. This vision of intercessory repentance had its foundations in both their reading of the Hebrew Bible and in German nationalism. However, whatever resemblance between Schlink’s language and style and that of German nationalism, she utterly inverted its priorities, placing the people (Volk) of Israel above all other peoples. This inversion was part of the sisters’ self-empowerment as women, part of a paradoxical rhetoric which, on the one hand, professed their weakness and sinfulness while, on the other hand, emphasizing their worthiness and strength. Although they were sinful as Christians and as Germans, they represented a spiritual elite, among the few worthy to stand between Germany and God, holding back God's wrath. The gendered nationalism of Schlink and the sisters was defined by deference to God and to Israel, and by counter-cultural elevation of their roles as women.