After the Nazi rise to power in early 1933, the new regime began trying to assert control over German social and cultural life in a process known as Gleichschaltung (“coordination”). Nazi authorities tried extending their influence into many areas—including churches and religious organizations. Hoping to protect Catholic associations and Catholic schools in Germany from interference by the Nazi regime, representatives of the Pope concluded a diplomatic agreement with Nazi Germany known as the Concordat in July 1933.1
The featured photograph of German Catholic leaders2 giving the Nazi salute was taken on August 20, 1933—the month following the signing of the Concordat—at a Catholic youth rally held in Berlin. This was a time of relative optimism among leading Catholics about relations between the Catholic Church and the Nazi state. Many Catholic leaders hoped that Nazi authorities would honor the recent agreement, and they urged German Catholics to respect the authority of the government.3 Newsstands sold postcards with similar images of Catholic leaders giving Nazi salutes.
At first glance, the men saluting in the featured photograph may appear to be Nazi supporters—but their public show of support for the regime would not make these men immune from Nazi persecution. In fact, one of the men pictured here—Erich Klausener—would be murdered by the Nazi SS less than one year after this image was captured.
Klausener was a government bureaucrat and the leader of the Berlin chapter of Catholic Action—an association of Catholic citizens working to promote Catholic values in popular culture and society. He is pictured wearing a suit on the lefthand side of the photograph. He had been critical of the Nazi Party during the last years of the Weimar Republic, but Klausener believed that Communism was the biggest challenge facing the Catholic Church. He even organized Catholic opposition to the Communist Party.4 When the Nazi Party first rose to power in 1933, Klausener welcomed the new regime’s anti-Communist policies.5
Nazi leaders still considered Klausener to be a threat to the regime because of his past criticisms of Nazi policies and his popularity among Catholics. During a wave of political assassinations in 1934 known as the Röhm Purge or “Night of the Long Knives,” Nazi leaders orchestrated the murders of several members of the Nazi SA (German: Sturmabteilung, or “Stormtroopers”) as well as many of the Nazis’ rightwing political rivals, including Catholic leaders like Klausener.
Official reports claimed that Klausener was conspiring against the government and immediately shot himself when he was confronted with the charges. Many German Catholics doubted that a devout Catholic like Klausener would end his own life,6 and the circumstances of Klausener’s death were widely discussed and debated. Some Catholic leaders insisted on honoring Klausener’s memory in spite of the government’s efforts to stop them. After his murder, Nazi officials became concerned that the sale of postcards with images of Klausener performing a Nazi salute would encourage harmful rumors.7 What reactions might they have been concerned about?