I've been on an extraordinary journey over the last few weeks, as I've hinted at in a few other entries. I've been reading the book "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" by Eric Metaxas and participating in a class at church based on the book. It's a remarkably well written story about someone who was perhaps one of the most remarkable people of the last century: German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Of course for those of you not familiar with Bonhoeffer, he was much more than a pastor, as the title of the book suggests. He was an integral part of the German resistance inside the Nazi state itself. He worked to smuggle Jews out of the country, which led to his arrest in 1943. He was also a member of the conspiracy that worked to attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The conspiracy culminated in the failed "Valkyrie" operation in July 1944. His connection to this, and other plots against Hitler, was discovered and he was executed in April 1945, just about three weeks before the fall of Germany.
Of course, to really get a feel for the man, one must understand his family and culture. That's where Metaxas begins with the book. Bonhoeffer's family was an old, aristocratic one. His father was considered to be the preeminent psychiatrist in Germany. One of his brothers became a scientist and studied alongside Albert Einstein himself. Another brother was killed fighting for Germany in Word War I. He had another brother who was a high ranking lawyer in German society. His mother was highly intelligent as well, and she was great musician.
This family and culture raised young Dietrich to be a thinker, and to think about all sides of different issues and problems. He eventually decided to become a student of theology, which was a slight disappointment to his psychiatrist father and physicist older brother, but they supported him. He would eventually make a name for himself in the Christian world. He traveled a lot and studied/served a pastor in Spain, the United States, and London. He also published several books on theology, some of which have become modern classics.
Bonhoeffer was in Berlin was Hitler came to power, and he and his family opposed him and the Nazi party from the start. It came to a head in the 1930s when the Nazis, through state action and propaganda, succeeded in making the German Lutheran church a organ of the state that disseminated the Nazi viewpoint and sanctioned the discrimination of Jews. Bonhoeffer and some other pastors set themselves against this and broke away from the main German church. For a time, Bonhoeffer even ran an illegal seminary to train pastors for this "Confessing Church." Eventually it all became too bothersome for the Nazis and the Gestapo shut it down.
In 1939, as Hitler had begun attacking and annexing his neighbors to the east, war looked likely. Bonhoeffer's friends throughout Europe and the USA managed to get him a teaching position in New York City. He once again left Germany to come to the States. His friends and family were hoping that he would be safe there during the coming war and could return afterward to help Germany rebuild and reform it's church. However after less than a month, Bonhoeffer decided that it was not God's will that he sit safe and sound in New York while the people of Germany suffered. He returned to Germany in the summer of 1939.
As World War II broke out the Bonhoeffer family was in a position to know about the various atrocities committed by the Nazis from the onset. One of Dietrich's brothers in law, Hans von Dohnanyi, worked in the Abwehr, the German military intelligence arm and was keeping a file on all of the things the SS and others were up to. He passed all of this information on to Dietrich and his family. Later, Dietrich decided that the only thing to do was to join the Abwehr himself. However he and many others were not agents of Germany at all, but members of a conspiracy that meant to assassinate Hitler. Bonhoeffer took many trips to countries in Europe trying to get the British and the Americans to support the Abwehr conspiracy, but he never quite managed it.
The Gestapo soon found out about his involvement in "Operation 7," in which 7 Jews were smuggled out of Germany and into neutral Switzerland. He was arrested in 1943 and was housed in a military prison called Tegel. In 18 months there he became what was basically a prison pastor, working with both guards and inmates. He also wrote many letters to friends and family that were preserved and published after his death and the end of the war.
However his time was up after an outraged Hitler survived the assassination attempt of July 20, 1944. The SS squeezed everyone they could for information on the Abwehr conspiracy and they eventually found the secret file that Bonhoeffer's brother in law was keeping on the subject. It implicated Bonhoeffer as well as another one of his brothers and two of his brothers in law. In early April, 1945, excerpts from the diary of the head of the Abwehr were found and brought to Hitler. Bonhoeffer and many others were mentioned by name. Hitler ordered that all of them be executed. Bonhoeffer nearly avoided this fate through a weird case of mistaken identity, but he was eventually transported to Flossenburg concentration camp and was executed by hanging at dawn on April 9, 1945. The Flossenburg camp doctor witnessed the event and marveled at how bravely Pastor Bonhoeffer walked his own way to the gallows. His bother Klaus and two brothers in law were also executed for their role in the conspiracy.
This marker rests at Flossenburg in the field where Bonhoeffer and other members of the conspiracy were hanged on April 9, 1945. Bonhoeffer's body was burned and no remains were ever recovered.
Of course there is much more to Bonhoeffer's life than what can be covered in a summary and book review, which is why I highly recommend that you read Eric Metaxas' book for yourself. It's a big read, clocking in at over 570 pages, but it's really worth it. If you're intimidated by big books, there is an abridged version available. It's not a hard read though. Metaxas writes in a style that flows well and reads more like a story than a measured out biography. In fact, even though the reader knows that Bonhoeffer dies in the end, there are some places where Metaxas really makes you feel like he was going to get out of it by the skin of his teeth.
It is possible that some of you out there may take exception to my glowing praise of Metaxas' work. He's come under some heat recently about some of his statements about America possibly going the way of the Nazis. Look, I don't know all that much about what he believes politically, but he's certainly entitled to his opinion. I can disagree with him and still respect him as an author and a thinker. It must also be kept in mind that Bonhoeffer was a fairly conservative thinker himself, though Metaxas doesn't present him as dogmatically so. All in all it's definitely a 5 star read and a very inspiring book.
Statue of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at Westminster Abby in London, in the gallery of Modern Day Martyrs. Martin Luther King Jr also has a statue in this gallery.
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