Konfession und Nationalsozialismus: Evangelische und katholische Pfarrer in der Pfalz 1930-1939 by Thomas Fandel

Abstract

Konfession und Nationalsozialismus: Evangelische und kathol*che Pfarrer in der Pfalz 1930-1939. By Thomas Fandel. [Veroffentlichungen der Kommission fur Zeitgeschichte, Series B: Forschungen, Band 76.] (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schningh. 1997. Pp. 669. DM 98,-.) In the field of German church history, Catholics and Protestants tend to be almost completely isolated from each other. Practitioners of the confessional subfields use different archives; they receive funding from different sources and publish in different series. In some cases, they work in different departments and institutions. As a result, comparisons between Catholics and Protestants are underexplored, and the story of Catholic-Protestant interaction in Germanythe largest European nation in which the two groups are close to equal in number-remains for the most part untold. This deficiency is especially noticeable for the Nazi period because of the vast literature on the churches under Hitler. It is especially regrettable when so much recent attention has turned to the involvement of *ordinary Germans in the Third Reich. Surely relations between the churches that together accounted for over 95% of Germany's population and whose mutual suspicions ran deep in the culture must be part of that history too. Since the 1960's there have been efforts to remedy the dearth of integrative studies, in English most notably by John S. Conway, in German by Klaus Scholder. Thomas Fandel's superb account of Catholic and Protestant clergy in the Palatinate from 1930 to 1939 is a significant and appropriate continuation of the labors of those masters. Fandel demonstrates how much we can learn about both churches and the society in which they existed by examining Catholics and Protestants in a specific regional setting. His is an account of segregation, coexistence, and conflict, but also of occasional surprising cooperation and often destructive rivalry. Fandel's ambitious and compelling book merits wide circulation, not only among church historians, but among anyone interested in the dynamics of Nazi society Fandel's book is but it is worth the effort to read it. The 600 pages permit him not only to cover Catholic and Protestant clergy throughout a tumultuous decade but also to balance informed generalizations and statistical overviews with lengthy biographical excursions and local detail. Fandel's methodology combines social history of religion with case studies in local, everyday history It is an effective blend that gives readers a sense of the big picture with its complexity and nuance but also communicates a feel for the human face of developments in specific parishes. Konfession und Nationalsozialismus is regional history at its best: firmly anchored in time and place yet always relevant to the broader context. …