The Kosher Bookworm: Separating Jesus from the Jews in Nazi Germany

A review of “The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany” by Dr. Susannah Heschel

By Alan Jay Gerber

The provocative title “The Aryan Jesus” [Princeton University Press, 2008] was not meant to shock but to inform and educate by gaining your attention. Written by Dr. Susannah Heschel, professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, it details the efforts of numerous Protestant Christian theologians to re-write history and theology by disassociating Jesus from Judaism in every respect, both as a person and as the object of religious belief. This effort was centered in Nazi Germany during the years of Nazi Party rule. It aimed to merge Christian religious thought with Nazi racist thinking.

Heschel’s effort is wide ranging, reflecting extensive research into the personalities involved, their beliefs, backgrounds and motivations. She hits the ground running — no boring introductions and rationales. It begins with a historical background of the Nazi era, portrayed in vivid and informative imagery that make it hard for the reader to set this book down from. That, by itself, is an achievement; given the seriousness of the subject, it is most welcome.

I leave it to you to glean from an actual reading of this book the details of the historical and theological travesty it describes. My intent is to single out one personality, the main culprit behind this movement, and to out him for the evil he comes to represent both in this book and in the pages of history for all the world to see.

His name is Walter Grundmann [1906-1974]. He was a scholar, a theologian, a cleric and a professor at the University of Jena. His professional bona fides made him tops in his field, giving any effort on his part great credibility in the eyes of his contemporaries and among the Nazi rulers whom he wished to please. The end result as detailed by Heschel is a torrent of intellectual activities — forums, symposia, books, articles, magazines and speeches all aimed at justifying the thesis that the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, its theology and its founders, are false.

Leading this effort was an organization founded by Grundmann called The Institute for the Study and Education of Jewish Influence on German Church Life. This was to serve as the ideological and organizational engine for all of Grundmann’s efforts on behalf of his Nazi masters and his own bigoted theories. The author goes into great detail in describing the structure, personalities and motives, as well as the outcomes, for most of these activities. Almost every personality involved was highly educated and highly regarded by people outside the Nazi orbit as well as, in many cases, outside Germany itself. These are all men of god, religious and pious by their own lights and serving their god with the integrity they regarded as justified by their warped views.

Grundmann’s talents as a speaker and organizer served both him and his movement well during the Nazi era. His activities against the Jewish people were no different in their final result, in terms of propaganda and hate-filled teachings, than those of Goebbels and Alfred Rosenberg, both of whom were to face justice at the end of the war...and therein lies the difference: Grundmann was never to face justice for his actions.

Despite an undying loyalty to Fascism and the bigoted ideology of Nazism, at war’s end Dr. Grundmann was to find an ideological home in another form of totalitarianism, Communism.

Heschel describes in remarkable detail how this theological war criminal was able to align himself, ideologically and politically, with the new rulers of the eastern part of Germany, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and their stooges, the German Democratic Republic, better known to history as East Germany.

Aside from his ability to continue his advocacy of his rancid theological views, Grundmann was to serve his new totalitarian masters as a very active informer for the infamous Communist secret police, the Stasi, the most dreaded of all such murderous operations of that era. According to Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, “The Stasi was much worse than the Gestapo, if you consider only the oppression of its own people.”

According to journalist Thomas O’Boyle: “East Germany  had the greatest concentration of domestic spies of any totalitarian government in recent history. Here are the figures: the KGB had about one agent per 5,830 citizens. The Nazis, according to Wiesenthal’s figures, had one Gestapo officer per 2,000 citizens. The Stasi had one officer per 166 citizens.” When you factor in Grundmann’s [and others like him] work with the Stasi, the ratio is even lower. As to the specifics of his work for this gang I refer you to Heschel’s extensive research, which found his behavior no different as a Communist operative than as a Nazi. He was realistic in that one respect: there was no real difference between Nazism and Communism.

Apparently, this was to be an easy fit for him and many other former Nazi functionaries who had the ability to convince their new masters of their loyalty and usefulness.

This should not come as a shock since the commonality, both programmatically and ideologically, between Nazism and Communism is a well-known phenomenon to those familiar with the totalitarian mindset.

This was reflected in literary form over the many years since the war in such works as economist F.A. Hayek’s “The Road To Serfdom,” historian Norman Cohn’s “The Pursuit Of The Millennium,” and Hebrew University’s J.L. Talmon’s “The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy.” Each of these books deserves your attention.

If you wish to better understand current events, in Washington and overseas, these three books will greatly assist you. Each goes into great detail as to what constitutes the mindset of those who wish to foist a fascist or Communist form of governance over a democratic republic. They touch upon religious and economic factors as well as the cravings by some who wish to rule for power’s sake — great power that would, in the end, staunch all liberty and freedom in the name of some greater justice. Heschel’s book adds one more sinister face to the cause of totalitarianism.

To me, this represents the danger that Walter Grundmann’s life story teaches. His example represents an evil allowed to be free from the bar of justice. In his post-war years this war criminal enjoyed a stellar theological and literary career, almost never facing serious censure by fellow “intellectuals” who saw nothing but the best in this man. The man’s real persona must be exposed for all to see and to learn from. Please read this book and educate yourself about an era past. Do not think it can’t happen again. It can.