Lutherans in World War II

There is renewed interest, it appears, in World War II and its generation. Whether it's Tom Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation or James Bradley's Flags of Our Fathers or any number of TV specials and mini-series now showing the American public seems to have an insatiable thirst for knowledge of this era. The current war on terrorism may also play a role in this renewed interest.

And much like the American Civil War, there is plenty of material to read and learn from and look at anew. And, I am sure, each generation will interpret the Second World War in its time even as generations interpret the Civil War in their times.

This week we take a look at some Lutherans during World War II, what they did, and how the war affected them. This week focuses on two disparate individuals and a synod trying to establish a seminary to equip its churches with trained pastors.

I encourage anyone with knowledge of other Lutherans during World War II to submit what they know for further research. Or in any other era, like the Civil War or Vietnam. We can look at how Lutheran faith has sustained or inspired people through difficult times.

Gustaw Manitius

The first person we look at is Pastor Gustaw Manitius from Poznan, Poland. Manitius was born February 7, 1880, in Konstanyow near Lodz in Poland. His ancestors had emigrated to that area from Hungary in the 16th century. His grandfather had been presiding bishop of the Lutheran Church in Poland.

In 1924 Pastor Manitius moved to Poznan, where he eventually became senior pastor/bishop of the Poznan-Pomeranian District of the Augsburgian (Lutheran)-Evangelical Church. At this time he was already a "marked man" in the Nazi regime's eyes. On October 9, 1939 the Gestapo arrested Manitius. This was barely a month after World War II had begun. During the night of either January 28 or 29, 1940 the Gestapo murdered Manitius.

So what did Manitius do to deserve such treatment by the Nazis?

It seems the Lutherans in Poland were ardent anti-Nazis. Father Edward Frankiewicz, a Roman Catholic priest who was actually one of Pastor Manitius's cellmates, noted in his memoir of this period that Lutheran pastors living in the region were the bravest of the Nazis' opponents there. (Edward Frankiewicz, Czlowiek poza nawiasem [The man beyond the Pale] ; Warsaw: Pax, 1955).

(We need mention a historical footnote here. Poland is usually considered a Catholic nation. But this tells us how Lutherans came to live in Poland:

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