Ernst Buddeberg still saw in Adolf Hitler “the saviour of Germany chosen and sent by God, a pseudo-religious figure of salvation, even at the end of 1944 and the beginning of 1945”. He saw God’s guidance in every step Hitler took, even if it obviously violated international law and treaties. Resistance to the Nazi regime in the Third Reich was only mentioned to the extent that God was thanked in events similar to church services on the Mountain for protecting the “Führer” during assassination attempts in which Christians had also risked their lives: “We agree that the influence of the Jews in our fatherland should be suppressed in the most vigorous manner. For we believe that the people under the curse of the murder of the Messiah is a curse for the other peoples of the earth.” “The Liebenzell Mission was nationalist from the very beginning,” explained Ernst Buddeberg in October 1940. The German anthem “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles (Germany, Germany, over everything)” and the Horst Wessel song were also sung by the sisters in the Mission House hall on patriotic occasions. Many of them decided to join the “Brown Sisters”, the Nazi sisterhood of the National Socialists. Ambivalent relationship to Judaism According to church historian Bernd Brandl, Heinrich Coerper and Ernst Buddeberg’s anti-Judaism was ultimately religiously based and crossed over into racial anti- Semitism. The Liebenzell Mission not only separated itself from Jewish employees, but also refused to employ other Jewish Christian doctors in China for biological- racist reasons. One missionary even reported the Liebenzell Mission to the Gestapo because so-called “non-Aryans” were employed. “The state’s actions against Jews were largely welcomed out of blindness and patriotic enthusiasm,” summarises Bernd Brandl. Heinrich Coerper’s relationship with Judaism was ultimately ambivalent, divided and contradictory: on the one hand, there is anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism – but then there are also positive statements from him about “what God will do with his people in the future.” On 12 June 1934, missionary Heinrich Witt (1871–1959), the then head of the Liebenzell Mission in China, summed up the Liebenzell Mission’s silence on the increasingly visible crimes of the National Socialists as follows: “It is best to stay in the background and to push through as best you can, as Jung-Stilling recommended for the time before the appearance of the Antichrist.” The main aim was to manoeuvre the work through the difficult times unscathed in order to remain independent. No admission of mistakes There is no evidence of atrocities committed by the Nazi regime in the Liebenzell Mission archives. According to Helmut Egelkraut in his comprehensive study, no word of remorse or repentance was heard after the Second World War, nor any admission, not even a hint that mistakes had been made. Ernst Buddeberg reacted to the Stuttgart confession of guilt by the Protestant churches on 19 October 1945 with the words: ‘Such a confession of guilt is out of question for us. Claudius Schillinger “We are shocked by the fact that the Liebenzell Mission also succumbed to the seduction of the Nazi regime, resulting in a lack of a clear Christian confession and failures in practical action. It is depressing that Adolf Hitler was seen as the leader sent and confirmed by God and that a completely uncritical attitude was adopted towards him ... We are appalled by the spiritual theological assessment of the Jewish people as “a curse for the nations”, the attitude associated with this and the injustice and harm that Jewish fellow citizens suffered. Full of shame, we apologise for the public statements made by the management at that time ... We ask for forgiveness for the fact that the management at that time instructed employees not to visit Jewish doctors in the future, and that in individual cases they distanced themselves from believing Christian employees of Jewish descent and did not give them the help that would have been in accordance with the love of Christ ... We deeply regret that the Liebenzell Mission has remained silent out of concern for the continuity of the work and the care of the missionaries, where it should have raised its voice ... We want to learn from historical experience and ask ourselves self-critically where we are in danger of succumbing to the spirit of the times in a similar way today ... We live from his mercy and forgiveness. That is why we do not set ourselves up as judges of our predecessors and fathers. But we ask for forgiveness from all those whom we or our predecessors have denied the necessary help and support in their responsibility for the work of the Liebenzell Mission, who have been put under political pressure or have come to har. ” www.liebenzell.org/files/epaper/ stellungnahme_komitee/fb/ At the 2015 Pentecost Mission Festival, however, the Liebenzell Mission leadership publicly confessed after years of research: 15 Start in the Monbachtal O The Liebenzell Mission takes over the Monbachtal from the “Christian Association for Youth Welfare” with the new name “Monbachtal Leisure and Bible Centre”. Welcome, Brother Wang! O The address administration on the Mission Mountain is converted from index cards to EDP. The first computer on the Mission Mountain is jokingly called “Brother Wang”. Start in Zambia O Start of mission work in Zambia. In the 1980s, the number of mission countries grows significantly, especially in Africa. Today, Zambia is one of the countries with the most Liebenzell missionaries. 1975 1981 1985
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