Katholische Wegbereiter des Nationalsozialismus: Michael Schmaus, Joseph Lorz, Josef Pieper in Bloomington, MN

The fateful year 1933 has been and is still being extensively researched, but one can still make discoveries. For example, in the Catholic city of Munster, the group of prominent Catholic authors animated by Hitler's Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen to make hesitant centrist voters move over to National Socialism. They were such prominent professors of theology as Michael Schmaus and Joseph Lortz. The Catholic writer Josef Pieper also assiduously made his voice heard. Their common aim was to "prove" what they believed to be the providential kinship of the Church and National Socialism. Kurt Flasch examines their reasoning and describes their historical position. It is not a matter of debunking or late denazification. The perpetrators who wrote are well known. They became most respected teachers in the early German Federal Republic; this makes them an element of post-1945 German continuity worth exploring.