The Salvation Army, a Protestant social service organization founded in Britain, began operating in Germany in 1886. Salvation Army workers established social services such as homeless shelters and kindergartens. They also spread religious teachings and established ministries. Although the German branch of the Salvation Army (German: "die Heilsarmee") had developed a strong German identity throughout the first decades of the twentieth century, the Heilsarmee remained part of the international Salvation Army organization and reported to the “General”—the Army’s chief officer—in London.1
The General of the Army for much of the 1930s, Evangeline Booth, sent this telegram to Adolf Hitler, petitioning the Nazi leader to allow the Salvation Army to continue its work in Germany.2 Nazi efforts to assert control over most German institutions (known as Gleichschaltung) began shortly after the Nazi rise to power in 1933. Although no policy had yet been set by the Nazi government regarding the Salvation Army, the regime had already begun investigating several smaller religious groups. The state banned the activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1933 for their unwillingness to engage in public acts of loyalty to Hitler and the Nazi state.3 Other smaller Christian groups, such as the Seventh-day Adventists,4 Methodists, Baptists, and Mennonites, emphasized their loyalty to Germany and their apolitical nature in the hope of shielding their organizations from Nazi scrutiny.5 The leaders of these groups welcomed the new Nazi government and Hitler’s leadership even as they feared their churches would remain vulnerable to further repression from the regime.
General Booth’s telegram appears to have produced a positive outcome for the German Salvation Army. Just a few weeks after Booth sent it, Hitler issued a directive that the Gestapo was not to interfere with the Salvation Army.6 The order declared that Hitler did not oppose the work of the Salvation Army, “who have never been politically active; also for reasons of foreign policy,” no action was to be taken against them.7 The Salvation Army continued operating throughout the years of Nazi rule in Germany and was made an auxiliary organization of the National Socialist People’s Welfare (NSV), the second largest Nazi organization.