Newly published Nazi archives reveal the regime’s disdain for the Church of Jesus Christ

In the hushed corridors of Berlin's Bundesarchiv lies a dossier of some 500 pages compiled by the Nazi Party's intelligence agency — the Sicherheitsdienst, or SD — on an unlikely group: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The B. H. Roberts Foundation recently acquired and published this dossier which provides an unfiltered view into the regime's scrutiny of the faith under the Nazi regime between 1933 and November 1939, two months after the war began. Surveillance reports, police files, confiscated literature, and internal Nazi correspondence reveal the Nazi government's suspicion and disdain toward German Saints who, though law-abiding, most often carefully distanced themselves from Nazism.

As a small religious community in pre-war Germany, the church and its members faced a profound dilemma under Adolf Hitler's regime. Confronted by Nazi ideology, which intruded upon every aspect of life, German Latter-day Saints sought to survive while remaining true to their beliefs. While a minority of Saints embraced Nazism, the pages within the Gestapo dossier illustrate the fine line the church had to walk, balancing cautious compliance with quiet defiance — while underscoring the moral complexities of maintaining one's faith in an oppressive state.

Nazi threats and monitoring Early signs of Nazi scrutiny of the church appeared as soon as Hitler rose to power. In 1933, Oliver H. Budge, president of the German-Austrian Mission, assured Gestapo officials of the Church's political neutrality and subservience to the law. Yet Nazi authorities remained unconvinced, viewing the Latter-day Saints as a "Sekte" ("sect," the colloquial German term for "cult") to be monitored for potential "anti-state" activities.

By 1936, the pressure intensified. That April, Latter-day Saint mission leaders were summoned by the Gestapo and warned that "the strictest state police measures" would be imposed on the Saints if any hint of opposition to the Nazi regime emerged within their community.

The threat had teeth. The documents from the dossier reveal that the Nazi government monitored Latter-day Saint worship meetings, missionary activity, church publications and individual members, infiltrating and scrutinizing even benign church activities. Nazi police arrested missionaries and confiscated numerous church pamphlets (this was prior to missionaries leaving the country, as depicted in the 2024 movie, " Escape from Germany "). And authorities under the infamous Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels officially banned The Articles of Faith by Latter-day Saint apostle James E. Talmage.

Gestapo officials categorized the church's teachings as subversive to the Nazi state, and internal correspondence shows that Reich officials seriously considered banning the church entirely, with one 1937 memorandum indicating that while a "potential dissolution was being considered," it was deemed "currently unfeasible" only due to the Church's international connections. Some Nazis also spread bizarre conspiracy theories, with one report claiming that church President Heber J. Grant was a "Jewish millionaire" who controlled the banks in Utah.

Sports diplomacy and survival strategies In 1936, the church found a unique way to ease tensions with the government: teaching basketball. As Germany prepared to host the Berlin Olympics, the Nazi government invited American Latter-day Saint missionaries, familiar with the sport, to coach the German national basketball team. Melvyn M. Cowan, a missionary in the German-Austrian Mission, wrote that this cooperation provided "a new means whereby the Gospel of Jesus Christ can be preached by words and actions, to the youth of a nation—a youth less available, perhaps, under ordinary circumstances." For Cowan, it was a chance to foster goodwill with German officials while avoiding direct political conflict.

The missionaries' involvement in Olympic training was not a sign of political support but a strategic effort to portray the church as harmless and cooperative, along with an opportunity to have a positive influence on German youth. This pragmatic choice allowed the church to continue its work under a regime that viewed most religious groups with suspicion and hostility.

Individual acts of defiance While Latter-day Saint leaders treaded carefully, some German saints actively resisted — the most famous example being Helmuth Hübener, the teenager from Hamburg who ultimately paid with his life for his opposition to the regime. But there were other, lesser known heroes of this time as well.

For example, Paul Herbert Schieck, a Latter-day Saint in Freiberg, made a stand by refusing to give the Nazi salute or sing the national anthem after one of Hitler's speeches was broadcast at his work. His refusal did not go unnoticed; Schieck was arrested, imprisoned and ultimately lost his job as a result. According to arrest documents, Schieck said, "I support the establishment of the kingdom of Zion...that is free from national ties." Schieck further explained that "as a German (he was) subject to the Führer," but nevertheless "consider(ed) Zion to be the highest ideal."

This refusal to express signs of Nazi loyalty was not an anomaly. The Gestapo reports that it was "generally known" among Nazi officials that Saints "categorically refuse to use the German salute." This subtle, widespread refusal exemplifies the quiet courage of Latter-day Saints living under a regime that demanded unwavering allegiance.

A stark contrast: Ideology vs. faith In 1936, Apostle John A. Widtsoe articulated the church's stance on the authoritarian regimes of the time, writing that "Communism, Fascism, and Nazism may be judged by this principle — whatever endangers to the least degree man's right to act for himself is not of God and must be resisted by Latter-day Saints." Widtsoe's condemnation of totalitarianism resonated with many Saints, who believed that Nazism, at its core, violated the religious principle of free agency.

This fundamental conflict between Nazi ideology and Latter-day Saint doctrine appears in one of the most thorough Gestapo reports on the church — a memorandum prepared in 1938 for Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg. Rosenberg was one of the primary ideological architects of National Socialism as well as a member of Hitler's inner circle. The report concluded that due to the faith's international orientation and "pacifist tendencies," its belief in modern prophets and revelation, and because of its "glorification of Judaism" and Jewish scripture (the Old Testament), "the doctrine of the Mormons is incompatible with the National Socialist worldview."

Leadership's position on neutrality and resistance Despite ideological conflicts, Latter-day Saint leaders in Germany and Utah counseled members to focus on spiritual growth rather than political matters. Roy A. Welker, president of the German-Austrian Mission from 1934 to 1937, reassured Nazi officials that the church would comply with state regulations, invoking the Twelfth Article of Faith, which emphasizes honoring and sustaining the law. When church President Heber J. Grant visited Germany in 1937, he urged German Saints to focus on living the gospel and avoid entangling themselves in political affairs. Gestapo agent Fräulein Peycke was in attendance at one of Grant's speeches in Berlin and reported its contents to her supervisors.

However, internally, church leaders referred to the German government as "criminals" and "detestable." As America entered World War II and communication with church headquarters in Utah was severed, church leaders in America spoke more forcefully. In 1943, future church President David O. McKay denounced Hitler as a "murderous dictator," while German Saints struggled to endure the war, isolated from the church in America.

Conclusion: Resistance, not accommodation These newly published documents suggest that the church's survival in Nazi Germany was far from guaranteed. Through minimal compliance with regime requirements while maintaining their religious principles, German Latter-day Saints managed to preserve their faith community during one of history's darkest chapters. The fact that only about 5% of German Latter-day Saints became Nazi Party members, roughly half the rate of the general population, speaks to the Saints' reluctance to embrace Nazi ideology, even under intense pressure to conform.

While some, such as Hübener's branch president Arthur Zander, embraced Nazism, the majority of Saints continued to show "no interest in political events and current affairs," as one Nazi official frustratedly noted in the 1938 Rosenberg report. Instead, these members of the church maintained their focus on religious rather than political devotion. These newly published files challenge simplistic and misleading narratives about the Latter-day Saints in Nazi Germany, revealing instead a complex story of a faith community trying to protect its members while remaining true to their beliefs.