"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children."- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer continues today to be known as one of the greatest workers and martyrs for the end of oppression and for standing up to what he believes is morally right. He fought courageously against arguably one of the most destructive regimes in all of history, the Nazi Regime. Although his religious views seemed to be contradictory to Christian teachings, Bonhoeffer continues to be a model of faith because his perseverance against the oppressive views of the Nazi regime, particular their anti-Semitism, have inspired many modern-day activists for social change to stand up to their oppressors.
"It is the nature, and the advantage, of strong people that they can bring out the crucial questions and form a clear opinion about them. The weak always have to decide between alternatives that are not their own."- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonheoffer was born on February 4, 1906 to Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer as a twin in Breslau, Silesia, which is in modern day Poland. Dietrich was the six of eight in his large family. His father was Germany’s leading empirical psychologist, and thus the Bonhoeffer family was very rich and prestigious in the German community. Although many believed he would take after his father as a psychologist, Dietrich decided to become a seminarian and a pastor in the Lutheran church, a decision which his parents supported whole-heartedly. He earned his doctorate from Berlin University in 1927, and because he was too young at age 21 to be ordained a pastor, he spent a few years in New York at the Union Theological Seminary.
"God's truth judges created things out of love, and Satan's truth judges them out of envy and hatred."- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
While in New York, he became associated with the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. He learned from especially from the African-American community the racial segregation in America. This segregation caused him to reflect on the racial oppression of the Jews back in Germany, and this became the turning-point for him to be an active resistance fighter against the Nazi regime and their beliefs.
He returned back to Germany in 1931 and was finally ordained a pastor for two Lutheran churches in London. He spoke out in speeches in congregations against Adolf Hitler and the Nazis at services and eventually over the radio. In 1934, he became a part of the Pastors’ Emergency League, which eventually evolved into the Confessing Church. The Confessing Church was an active and a major force which spoke out against the Nazis throughout the mid-1930s. Dietrich was the head of the seminary at Finkenwalde, and he continued to make speeches and radio broadcasts against Hitler. In 1937, the Nazis and the Gestapo, the German military police, closed down the Confessing Church permanently.
"Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility."- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer then took a more radical approach to fighting against the oppressive Nazis. He joined the Abwehr, which was the military Intelligence office for the Nazis during the 1930s and 1940s. While working in the Abwehr, Bonhoeffer became associated with a plot to kill Adolf Hitler and his top-ranking officers, which was spear-headed by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and included several members of his family. Bonhoeffer’s role in the conspiracy was as a diplomat trying to rally support for the conspiracy in England and America. He also wrote literature, most notably his book Ethics, trying to explain that it is necessary for a morally responsible person to perform extreme actions such as political assassination under the tyranny of an oppressive regime.
"A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes - and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent."- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The plot, which was set for July 20, 1944, failed and many of the conspirators were assassinated quickly. Bonhoeffer’s involvement was not discovered until April 1945. He was immediately put into prison, where he wrote of one his most notable poems called Who Am I?:
Who am I? They often tell me I stepped from my cell’s confinement Calmly, cheerfully, firmly, Like a squire from his country-house. Who am I? They often tell me I used to speak to my warders Freely and friendly and clearly, As though it were mine to command. Who am I? They also tell me I bore the days of misfortune Equally, smilingly, proudly, Like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which other men tell of? Or am I only what I myself know of myself? Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage, Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat, Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds, Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness, Tossing in expectation of great events, Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance, Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making, Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?
Who am I? This or the other? Am I one person today and tomorrow another? Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling? Or is something within me still like a beaten army, Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!
"To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us."- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich was then sentenced to death, and he died from a public hanging on April 23, 1945, just one week prior to Adolf Hitler’s own suicide. Bonhoeffer’s legacy continues even to today as he symbolizes the courage to stand up to oppressive political institutions for what he believes is morally right.
