Richard Steigmann-Gall

Richard Steigmann-Gall (born 1965) is Associate Professor of History at Kent State University, and was the Director of the Jewish Studies Program from 2004 to 2010. He received his BA in history in 1989 and MA in European History in 1992 from the University of Michigan, and his PhD in European History in 1999 from the University of Toronto.[1] In 2003, he published The Holy Reich through Cambridge University Press, which explored Nazi conceptions of Christianity. The Holy Reich argues that the Nazi Party was not anti-Christian as popularly understood, nor was it in any sense a paganist movement.[2]

Exploring the concept of positive Christianity, Steigmann-Gall writes that many in the Nazi Party leadership believed themselves and their movement to be inherently Christian.[3] He argues that point 24 of the Nazi Party Program of 1920—which states that "the party as such represents the point of view of a positive Christianity without binding itself to any one particular confession"—was according to Steigmann-Gall, "more than a political ploy."[4] It was "central to the inner logic of their worldview."[5] Steigmann-Gall also underscores the fact that some anti-Christians party members fought to "expunge Christian influence from Nazism" and the movement became "increasingly hostile to the churches".[6]

The Holy Reich has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.[7] It has been reviewed widely,[8] culminating in a symposium on the book published by the Journal of Contemporary History in 2007.[7] In a 2003 review of the book, historian John S. Conway wrote that Steigmann-Gall made an "almost convincing case" and was "right to point out that there never was a consensus among the leading Nazis about the relationship between the Party and Christianity" but "Nazi Christianity was eviscerated of all the most essential orthodox dogmas. What remained was the vaguest impression combined with anti-Jewish prejudice."[9]

On September 30, 2009 Steigmann-Gall was featured on the The History Channel in a documentary discussing Hitler's religious views.[10][11]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Kent University official website
  2. ↑ Steigmann-Gall, Richard (2003). "Rethinking Nazism and Religion: How Anti-Christian were the 'Pagans'?" Central European History 36 (1): 75-105.
  3. ↑ Steigmann-Gall, Richard (2003). The Holy Reich: Nazi conceptions of Christianity, 1919-1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 3.
  4. ↑ Steigmann-Gall, Richard (2007). The Holy Reich p. 14
  5. ↑ Steigmann-Gall, Richard (2007). The Holy Reich p. 51
  6. ↑ Steigmann-Gall, Richard (2003). The Holy Reich. pp. 13-50, p. 252.
  7. 1 2 Steigmann-Gall, Richard (2007). "Christianity and the Nazi Movement: A Response." 42 (2): 185–211.
  8. ↑ Steigmann-Gall, Richard (2007). "The Holy Reich: reviews and interviews." <www.dept.kent.edu>. Retrieved 11-29-2011.
  9. ↑ Conway, John S. (2003). Review of Steigmann-Gall, Richard, The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919-1945. H-German, H-Net Reviews, June.
  10. ↑ "Hitler's Blood Oath" (2009). Nostradamus Effect. History. 30 September 2009. Clip 1 234 567
  11. ↑ Kent State University (2011). "Faculty News." Department of History Newsletter (Spring): 12. "A particularly valuable lesson was learned when he agreed to appear in a History Channel documentary about Hitler. A pleasant March weekend in sunny Burbank, California left him feeling like a star, but left him somewhat puzzled that the production team apparently had yet to come up with a title for the program. Two weeks before its premier last September, he finally got word: "The Nostradamus Effect: Hitler's Blood Oath"! Not anticipating becoming a talking head for one of the more sensationalistic theories about Hitler currently in circulation, he learned a valuable lesson about the limits of controlling your message."

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