Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

After Hitler launched his invasion of Poland in 1939, he ordered a series of horrific directives to his officers, including brutal measures against Jews, intellectuals, nobles, clergy, and prisoners of war, as well as the grim practice of enforced euthanasia for people with disabilities and people with chronic illnesses. Hitler’s military advisers, particularly those in the army—whose service for Germany predated the Führer’s rise to power—were shocked and dismayed by the orders. Admiral Canaris, the head of the Abwehr, saw the matter clearly: “This means the end of Germany” (348).

It was Hitler’s own actions that fostered the growth of conspiracy against him within his military leadership, and more and more officers found themselves willing to join Canaris and Dohnanyi (Bonhoeffer’s brother-in-law) in their plans to assassinate the Führer. Bonhoeffer became increasingly interested in the conspiracy, as its leaders sought his assistance in garnering support from other European nations via his connections in the ecumenical movement. Since he had trusted acquaintances among high-ranking clerics in other countries, he would be able to carry information on the conspiracy’s efforts to people who could then transmit that information to their own governments. 

As World War II rolled onward, first into Poland and then toward western Europe, several of Bonhoeffer’s family connections encouraged him to take further steps into the covert resistance against Hitler. Eventually the Gestapo found and closed the final outpost of his Confessing Church seminary, so his choices for what to do were rapidly diminishing.

The exact time of Bonhoeffer’s first official involvement in the conspiracy is not entirely known, but his friend (and later biographer) Eberhard Bethge realized that something in Bonhoeffer’s approach had changed when the news came that France had fallen to the Nazi advance. As the German crowd celebrated around them, Bonhoeffer joined in, urging Bethge not to give themselves away by an indiscreet show of disapproval. This meant that Bonhoeffer had a covert agenda worth protecting.

Assisted by Dohnanyi, Bonhoeffer was able to undertake his compulsory military service by joining the Abwehr, the military intelligence arm where the conspiracy against Hitler was taking shape. Assisted by Karl Barth in getting across the Swiss border, Bonhoeffer met with ecumenical contacts there and passed along information about the resistance so they could inform their governments.

The conspiracy against Hitler always faced a difficult set of challenges, but these were made incomparably more difficult by Hitler’s fantastical run of battlefield victories—especially the quick capitulation of France—which to many Germans elevated him to the status of a national savior. Hitler’s policies, however, continued to stoke unrest in the army, especially his infamous Commissar Order of 1941, in which he ordered his army to break long-honored rules of warfare by executing captured officers.

Meanwhile, Bonhoeffer continued to support the increasingly beleaguered Confessing Church, working to secure deferments and protection for pastors. He made another trip to Switzerland, passing along further information. He also worked with Dohnanyi to help secure the escape of seven Jews in danger of death, but the under-the-table financial dealings it took to get the Swiss to agree to take them in were eventually the very thing that exposed Bonhoeffer to the Gestapo’s attention.

Just as the conspiracy against Hitler was gaining ground, the German army ran into its first serious defeats in Russia, leading to Hitler replacing much of his military leadership, and thus, unfortunately, placing many conspirators out of reach of the Führer and out of easy assassination range.

Bonhoeffer continued making trips under the aegis of the Abwehr, reaching contacts in Norway, Switzerland, and Sweden. At the latter stop, he sought to reconnect with his old clergy colleague, the Anglican bishop George Bell. Recognizing Bell’s valuable connections with the British government, Bonhoeffer knew their meeting had the potential to get information to the highest levels of the British government. The conspirators were hoping to convince the Allied powers that when the coup took place, the new government should be considered a friend of the Allies, not a further threat, lest for lack of external support some of Hitler’s loyal lieutenants might snatch back the reins of government.

Upon returning to England, Bell wrote letters to the British foreign secretary, urging the government not to view all Germans as Nazis and to do everything they could to support the assassination plot. The British government ignored Bell’s information, as they were counting on the caricatured portrayal of all Germans as the enemy as a crucial means of maintaining public support for the war effort.