The Incredible Story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Theologian, Spy, and Modern Martyr

Introduction

On the 20th of July, 1944, Adolf Hitler was meeting with his most trusted advisors in his top secret, high-security bunker, called the Wolf's Lair. This secret headquarters, deep in a Polish forest on the Eastern Front, had been built at the start of Operation Barbarossa, the tank invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. At 12:42 p.m., the site was rocked by a bomb that had been placed in a briefcase under the table. It was meant to kill Adolf Hitler, but it didn't. Someone had moved the briefcase behind a solid table leg, which shielded Hitler from the explosion. He escaped with just a perforated eardrum and singed and tattered trousers.

The Assassination Attempt and Its Aftermath

The assassination attempt had been orchestrated by a group of high-ranking German military officers who wanted to take control of the government. They thought that Hitler was leading Germany to disaster. The conspirators codenamed their plan Operation Valkyrie. In retaliation for the attempt on his life, Adolf Hitler was to wreak a terrible revenge, arresting more than 7,000 people and executing almost 5,000 of them. Among those whom Hitler executed was a mild-mannered, bespectacled theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Above the west entrance of Westminster Abbey are 10 statues that were unveiled in July, 1998. Dietrich Bonhoeffer is commemorated here as one of the 10 most important Christian martyrs of modern times. So, how did such an unassuming theologian get caught up in Operation Valkyrie? Well, join me as we follow Bonhoeffer's from its fairytale beginning to a martyr's end. His story will challenge and inspire you.

Early Life and Education

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau, Germany, a town which is, today, called Wroclaw and is now in present-day Poland. The Bonhoeffers were an aristocratic and highly educated family in Berlin. His father, Dr. Karl Bonhoeffer, was an imminent neurologist and professor of psychiatry at the University of Berlin. His mother, Paula, was the daughter of one of the chaplains to Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German emperor and King of Prussia. She was one of the few women of that time who had been given the opportunity to Paula was an accomplished educator and had a profound influence on her children. She taught them at home for many years, and all the children were encouraged to explore science, great literature, and the fine arts. Paula also encouraged her children to have a strong Christian faith. The family lived a privileged life on the outskirts of Berlin. As a teenager, Dietrich attended the Herder Gymnasium in Berlin. He was an outstanding student, and also showed great musical talent on the piano, to such an extent that his family was even convinced that he was headed for a musical career. But even from an early age, Dietrich grew up fascinated with the big questions of life, such as, what is my purpose in life, is there life after death, is there a Heaven, and what does eternity mean? His interest in the afterlife deepened during the Great War, from 1914 to 1918, as reports of the deaths of soldiers, distant family members, and friends filtered back to the home. Then, at the age of 13, shortly after his older brother, Walter, had been killed on the Western Front offensive of 1918, he shocked his family when he announced that he was going to be a theologian. His older brothers laughed at him. His father was shocked and not at all impressed with his decision.

Choosing Theology over Aristocracy

Dietrich Bonhoeffer chose to trade the prominence of an aristocratic upbringing in Berlin for the unpopular roles of theologian and pastor, and despite the strong family opposition, Bonhoeffer stood firm with his decision, and when he was 18, he began theological studies at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin. Bonhoeffer, coming from an upper-class family and a highly educated scholar, had lofty aspirations to convert the German church to his view that Christians must live out their faith in their community, that Christianity should be faith in action, and so he took a position as an assistant pastor to a German Lutheran congregation in He had no knowledge of pastoral work, and so had little sympathy for the working class people, the destitute and the needy, but it was this experience with the poverty-stricken Spanish people of Barcelona in the lead-up to the Spanish Civil War that opened his eyes. So, it was here that Bonhoeffer's transformation from mere theologian to a compassionate pastor theologian began.

The Rise of Nazism and Bonhoeffer's Opposition

In 1931, Dietrich returned to Germany, where he was ordained as a pastor, and he took up the position of lecturer at the University of Berlin and became interested in the international ecumenical movement, to unite the Christian churches in Europe. He was still only 25 years old. At an ecumenical conference in Cambridge, England, in 1931, Bonhoeffer called for a reduction in the size of armies and defence forces and for the nations of Europe to live peacefully together, but a World War I German corporal from Austria had a completely different vision for His name was Adolf Hitler, and unfortunately, his vision was far more compelling to the German people than Bonhoeffer's. Adolf Hitler advocated the theory that Germans of Aryan blood were a master race, and as such, their proper role was as rulers in the world. Interestingly, the Japanese and Italians held the same opinion about themselves at this time. Now, the 1930s were a time of great upheaval in Germany. The German people were despondent after the defeat of World War I and the collapse of the monarchy. They suffered through the subsequent economic collapse and the mass unemployment of the Great Depression and the instability of the Weimar Republic, or the German state, after 1918. The charismatic Adolf Hitler appeared to be the nation's answer to their prayer. He said that God was behind the destiny of the German people and the Fatherland. In 1933, Germany elected Hitler as Reich Chancellor, the legal head of the German government. By the end of 1934, he was essentially dictator of a new totalitarian state called the Third Reich. He was the F hrer. Hitler offered the resurrection of the German people's honour, but he was not content to lead only the German state, but wanted to control the church as well. Now, the German churches were strongly influenced by nationalism and welcomed the rise of Nazism. Many of the German Christians began to promote the creation of a pro-Nazi Reich church. They wanted all Christians to conform to Nazi ideology, and they pushed for the implementation of the state Aryan laws within the church. One Christian pastor of the state church wrote at the time- - "Christ has come to us through Adolf Hitler." - It was clear that Germany had changed forever, and some, like Bonhoeffer, didn't like it. You see, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a tall, young man with an athletic physique. With his mother's blue eyes and blonde hair, he perfectly fitted Hitler's Aryan stereotype, but any affinity between Bonhoeffer and the Third Reich stopped right there. Dietrich Bonhoeffer publicly opposed both Hitler's attempt to take over the German church and Nazi Aryan ideology. Bonhoeffer was now on a collision course and probably the only surprising thing is that Dietrich survived as long as he did. And just two days after Hitler's election as Chancellor in January, 1933, while Germany was still celebrating its new leader, Bonhoeffer spoke on radio to a national audience, criticising the new charismatic Chancellor and warning of the Nazi agenda that was sweeping Germany. Before he finished his talk, his broadcast was cut off, abruptly ended by government censure. Due to Hitler's direct influence, the leaders of the state church elected a new and fully Nazi-aligned leadership. Then, a national church senate passed a resolution in September, 1933, to remove all pastors and church officials of Jewish descent. In November, a rally of 20,000 Christians was organised, demanding that the Old Testament be removed from the Bible because it was Jewish. Bonhoeffer opposed this move and was the first voice within the church to call for Christian resistance to Hitler's persecution of the Jews. Bonhoeffer opposed the persecution of the Jews and actively sought to protect them. This put him at odds with the unification of all Protestant churches into one single pro-Nazi Protestant Reich church. Famous theologians, like Karl Barth, Martin Niem ller, and the young Bonhoeffer and others, publicly announced their resistance to the Nazis in the Barmen Declaration. When the rest of the church believed Adolf Hitler had been sent by God, this Declaration insisted that Jesus Christ, not the F hrer, was the head of the church. Despite this brave stand, Bonhoeffer felt disillusioned and, in late 1933, accepted a two-year appointment to pastor a German-speaking Protestant church in London.

Bonhoeffer's Exile and Return to Germany

Shortly after his return from London, Bonhoeffer was denounced by the Nazi government as a pacifist and as an enemy of the state. In 1936, he had his authorization to teach revoked, and his books were put on the banned list. Then, in January, 1938, the Gestapo banned him from Berlin. Bonhoeffer became worried that he would soon be arrested because he would never swear an oath to Hitler or fight in his army, and to fail to do so, he would be seen as a traitor and sentenced to death. As it was becoming obvious that war would soon break out in Europe, Bonhoeffer's twin sister, Sabine, left Germany and escaped to the United Kingdom with her Jewish husband and two children. In June, 1939, Bonhoeffer also left Germany and sailed to the safety of the United States with the intention of waiting out the war there, but as soon as Bonhoeffer stepped off the ship in New York City, he knew that he didn't belong there. His place was in Germany. He felt guilty that he had abandoned the fight for the soul of Germany. Bonhoeffer was absolutely convinced that life is a series of crucial decisions. He strongly believed that he should return to Germany and that one who believes does not flee. He wrote this "I have made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period in our national history with the Christian people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people." - Bonhoeffer wondered what was to become of Christianity if it failed to oppose Adolf Hitler. For him, Christianity was faith in action. Hadn't he written that discipleship was costly? How could he play a role in encouraging and rebuilding the German Christian church if he had abandoned it in its darkest hour? So, in July, 1939, after just 26 days in America, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany on the last steamer ever scheduled to cross the Atlantic before the war began, but as soon as Bonhoeffer returned to Germany, he was denied the right to publish or to speak in public.

Bonhoeffer's Work with the German Resistance

Less than two months later, on the 1st of September, 1939, Hitler ordered his Panzer divisions into Poland, launching the Second World War. Bonhoeffer was now subject to the draught. To refuse military service was interpreted as being a traitor and usually meant execution. Fortunately for Dietrich, his brother-in-law, Hans von Dohnanyi, had become an important member of the military intelligence department, or the Abwehr, the German Secret Service. Dohnanyi used his connections to find a job for Dietrich in that office, thus avoiding compulsory military service. Even though Dohnanyi worked for the Abwehr, he opposed the Nazi regime and had connections with the German resistance. Bonhoeffer's life changed when he began work with the Abwehr, the German Secret Service. Under the guise of travelling to ecumenical church conferences in Europe, he was supposedly working as a spy, collecting intelligence information about the places he visited for the German Secret Service, but he was also trying to make contact with the German resistance and the allies, and was helping Jews escape Nazi oppression. The unassuming Bonhoeffer was now a double agent, but what the world didn't know at the time was that the German military intelligence were at the centre of the German resistance to Adolf Hitler. They were actively engaged in long-term and highly complicated plots to kill the F hrer and take over the government before another Nazi could do so. Until this time, Bonhoeffer had been a pacifist, but now, he questioned his pacifist views. He still wore the mask of a devout pastor, but now, as a double agent, he became part of a secret plot to overthrow and, later, assassinate Hitler. He started to think that there might be a need for some form of more direct opposition to Hitler's regime. He had already made contact with some senior military officers who were secretly part of the small German resistance and opposed to Hitler. Through them, Bonhoeffer learned about various assassination plots to kill Hitler. As part of the German Secret Service, Bonhoeffer also learned of the Nazi atrocities against the Jews. He determined to work secretly to save as many Jews as possible. He also used his ecumenical contacts to sabotage Nazi war strategies and smuggle Jews to Switzerland. Bonhoeffer wrote "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." So, when the first deportations of the Jews in Berlin occurred, on the 15th of October, 1941, Bonhoeffer and a friend wrote to his European contacts and trusted German military officials, telling them of the deportations, hoping it would help to stop the attacks. Bonhoeffer wrote "We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself." Bonhoeffer also became involved in Operation Seven, a plan to get Jews out of Germany by giving them papers as foreign agents. The Gestapo discovered details about Operation Seven and began looking for the dissidents and troublemakers who were opposing the Nazi state. In March of 1943, there were two unsuccessful assassination attempts on Hitler's life. This brought the fury of the Gestapo down on anyone involved in smuggling activities or the assassination plots.

Bonhoeffer's Arrest and Imprisonment

It was in April, 1943, while Bonhoeffer was trying to help some German Jews escape to Switzerland, that he and his brother-in-law, Hans von Dohnanyi, were arrested and taken to Tegel Prison. Bonhoeffer was initially charged with conspiring to rescue Jews, using his foreign travels for non-intelligence matters, and misusing his intelligence position to help church pastors evade military service. For the next two years, Bonhoeffer and many other conspirators were imprisoned in Tegel Prison while the Gestapo attempted to establish a case of treason against them and prove their guilt. Then, on the 20th of July, 1944, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the chief conspirator, succeeded in exploding a bomb at Hitler's Wolf's Lair. Operation Valkyrie was unsuccessful. Hitler was furious and was determined to destroy anyone associated with the plot. This investigation led to the arrest of about 200 conspirators, including Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, the highly respected and decorated German general, who was allowed to take his own life. Bonhoeffer, though privy to various plots on Hitler's life, was never at the centre of the plans. When some documents linked Bonhoeffer to the assassination plot and his connections to the broader resistance circles were uncovered, he was moved to the Gestapo prison in Berlin. On the 7th of February, 1945, the day after he turned 39, Bonhoeffer was transferred from his prison cell in Berlin to Buchenwald, and then to Regensburg. As he was transported from one prison to another, chained in the back of military trucks, Bonhoeffer shared his faith with the other prisoners. Whenever he had an opportunity, the softly-spoken Bonhoeffer would encourage the other prisoners and share his belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ. By early April, 1945, the Soviet Army was on the outskirts of Berlin. Adolf Hitler personally ordered the SS Chief, Heinrich Himmler, to have the remaining conspirators, including Bonhoeffer, executed. Bonhoeffer was accused of having been associated with the assassination plot, and on the 8th of April, 1945, he was finally sent to the extermination camp at Flossenbrg.

Bonhoeffer's Final Days and Execution

Payne Best, a captured RAF pilot and fellow prisoner, wrote this observation of Bonhoeffer. "Bonhoeffer was different, just quite calm and normal, seemingly perfectly at ease, his soul really shone in the dark desperation of our prison. He is one of the very few men I have ever met to whom God was real and ever close to him." At the break of dawn on the 9th of April, 1945, one month before Germany surrendered, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged. As they prepared him for his death, he preached a final sermon. His words were remembered, and later retold by Payne Best. He remembers Bonhoeffer saying "This is for me the end, the beginning of life." A decade later, a camp doctor, who witnessed Bonhoeffer's hanging, described the scene as follows. "The prisoners were taken from their cells, and the verdict of court martial read out to them. Through the half-open door in one room of the huts, I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, before taking off his prison garb, kneeling on the floor praying fervently to his God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a prayer, and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued in a few seconds. In the almost 50 years that I've worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God." And so, on the 9th of April, 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged with six other conspirators. His brother, Klaus Bonhoeffer, was also executed for resistance activities, as were his brothers-in-law, Hans von Dohnanyi and Rdiger Schleicher.

Bonhoeffer's Legacy and Inspiration

Today, Bonhoeffer is remembered as a great modern martyr for Christianity. His principled resistance to Hitler's regime became a source of inspiration for other great modern leaders, such as Martin Luther King and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He's the ultimate witness to a world in turmoil. The story of Bonhoeffer's life challenges us. We can't just profess Christianity and not let it impact and transform our lives. During the two years in prison, Bonhoeffer wrote books that have since become devotional classics. One of his most famous is the book on the Sermon on the Mount, which is called "The Cost of Discipleship". In this classic book, Bonhoeffer argued that true discipleship costs. He attacked the idea of cheap grace as an excuse for a lack of commitment to obedience and sacrifice. Instead, he preached costly grace. This is what he wrote "Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."