Kreuz und Adler (Cross and Eagle) was a pro- Nazi Catholic organization founded in 1933. [1] [2] It was founded at the behest of German Vice-Chancellor and Catholic Franz von Papen as a means to create reconciliation between the Nazi regime and the Catholic Church that had previously held hostility to the Nazis. [1] [2] It was founded after 28 March 1933 when the Catholic Church ended its previous ban on Catholics being members of the Nazi Party. [1]
The first meeting of the Kreuz und Adler was held on the 15 June 1933. [3] At the first meeting, von Papen called for its followers to support the overcoming of liberalism and complimented the Nazi regime for being the " Christian counterrevolution to 1789", referring to the French Revolution that instituted secularization of society. [3]
Its membership largely consisted of wealthy German Catholics. [1] Members included Otto Schilling, Theodor Brauer, Emil Ritter and Eugen Kogen. [4]
- ^ a b c d Robert Anthony Krieg. Catholic Theologians in Nazi Germany. London, England, UK: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004. Pp. 4.
- ^ a b Robert P. Ericksen. Complicity in the Holocaust: Churches and Universities in Nazi Germany. Cambridge University Press, 2012. Pp. 57.
- ^ a b Guenter Lewy. The Catholic Church And Nazi Germany. Da Capo Press, 1964. Pp. 46.
- ^ Guenter Lewy (2000). The Catholic Church And Nazi Germany. Da Capo Press. pp. 46–. ISBN 978-0-7867-5161-7. Retrieved 13 March 2013.