Karl Themel

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Karl Themel (born February 26, 1890 in Jüterbog ; † March 19, 1973 in Berlin ) was a German theologian and Protestant pastor who worked at the Reichsstelle für Kippenforschung as head of the church book office in Alt-Berlin at the time of National Socialism .

Life

Training and career entry

Themels father was Kämmerei- and Stadtkassenrendant . He completed his school career at a humanistic grammar school in Potsdam . He then studied theology at the universities of Halle , Tübingen and Berlin from 1908 to 1912 . During his studies he joined the Halle Wingolf .

After completing his studies and ordination , he voluntarily took part in the First World War as a chaplain from November 1914 until the end of the war in 1918 . In the post-war period, Themel took over pastoral positions at the deaconess motherhouse Oberlinhaus Nowawes in Potsdam-Babelsberg and then in Mertensdorf . From 1923 he worked as a pastor in Berlin, first with the Samaritan parish and from 1928 with the Luisenstadt parish . In addition, from 1931 he took on the part-time job of social pastor in Berlin.

Political activity and the time of National Socialism

Since the 1920s, Themel sympathized with the anti-capitalist , anti- liberal, anti-socialist and anti-Semitic programs of Adolf Stocker . In the early 1930s, Themel began to turn politically towards the National Socialists: from 1932 he was a member of the NSDAP and became a block administrator. In the course of the transfer of power to the National Socialists , Themel joined the SA in 1933 , where he achieved the rank of squad leader and acted as a clan warden. In addition, he belonged to the NSV , the Reichs Luftschutzbund and the Reichsbund der Kinderreich . As pastor of the Luisenstadtgemeinde, he had the Horst Wessel song there and celebrated the Führer birthday on April 20th.

Officials of the German Christians

At the same time he joined the party, he was a co-founder of the German Christians and held important positions in this national socialist religious movement. From 1932 he was a consultant for social issues in the Reich leadership of the German Christians and was a member of the Reich Church leadership around Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller . From June 24, 1933 to July 18, 1933 he was honorary city commissioner and from October 1933 President of the Central Committee for the Internal Mission . He was also the founder and Reichsführer of the German Evangelical Men's Work. He took part in the German Evangelical National Synods in 1933 in Wittenberg and in 1934 in Berlin. His vita was included in the German Guide Lexicon.

"The knowledge of blood and race and heredity must be taken into account in future work on the people."

- Karl Themel on September 11, 1933 during the centenary at the Rauhen Haus in Hamburg .

In the course of the rapidly dwindling influence of Müller, Themel also lost his functions with the German Christians in autumn 1934 for reasons of church policy.

Activity for the Reichssippenamt and head of the church registry office in Alt-Berlin

In November 1934, Themel applied in writing to the Reich Office for Family Research, which later became the Reich Office for Family Studies, with reference to his qualifications. He cited his profound knowledge of family and clan research as well as basic knowledge of racial studies and heredity, referred to his leadership experience in church committees and his membership in Nazi organizations.

“As I have heard, the intention is to combine the church book system in Berlin into a clan chancellery. After consultation with the representative of the German Evangelical Church for the church book system, Konsistorialrat Riehm, I would like to make myself available to you for this. "

- Karl Themel's application for a job at the Reich Office for Family Research in November 1934

Together with other National Socialist-minded colleagues from the Berlin city synod, he used his methodological knowledge to evaluate the church records for the Reich Office for Family Research, which on the one hand served to provide evidence of Aryans and recorded Christians of Jewish origin. He had the church registers centralized, racially evaluated and mapped. After the evaluation, the collected findings were forwarded to the Reich Office for Family Research or other Nazi organizations (as of 1941: 164,830 processed applications with 332,595 church book findings, of which 2,612 were of Jewish descent); Themel thus worked towards the persecution of the Jews. From December 1936, Themel officially headed the Alt-Berlin church registry that he had set up . In the church register, which existed until 1945, more than 30 employees were most recently active. SS leader Henry Baer was the deputy head of the church registry. Themel was an admirer of the head of the Reich Office for Family Research, Kurt Mayer .

“All baptisms of Jews from 1800 to 1936 that took place in Berlin are brought together in a special section. Three or four cases of non-Aryan descent are uncovered here every day. "

- The Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter via the church register office Alt-Berlin.

From 1942 he was city synod pastor for the church book system in Berlin. In addition, in 1935 he worked as a senior church councilor in the church chancellery of the German Evangelical Church in addition to his pastoral position. He was also the chairman of the Reich Association of Family Researchers and Heraldists . Due to his membership in the lodge , which existed until 1933 , Themel was excluded from the NSDAP in 1938, but accepted back into the party the following year through Adolf Hitler's pardon. From 1939 he was part-time consistorial advisor at the Mark Brandenburg consistory . From 1941 he was a member of the Herold (Association for Heraldry, Genealogy and Related Sciences in Berlin) and was honored there as a corresponding member on his 80th birthday.

post war period

Shortly before the end of the war, Themel left Berlin and took over a pastoral position in Bertkow in mid-May 1945 . His removal from office due to a church panel proceedings concluded in Berlin in December 1948 regarding his membership in Nazi organizations was not carried out, but instead reduced to a transfer in the following year after an appointment hearing. From 1952 until he retired in 1954 he was pastor in Markau . Then he was still with activities in the archive and church book system of the Ev. Berlin-Brandenburg Church commissioned, which he perceived in West Berlin .

Fonts

  • The Protestant Church Books of Berlin: Overview of d. Stocks d. Parish u. Church archives d. Evang. Church in Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin West) ud Sprengels Berlin (East) d. Evang. Church in Berlin-Brandenburg / total by Karl Themel. Result, edit u. Introduced by Wolfgang Ribbe, Colloquium-Verlag, Berlin 1984.
  • Brandenburg church records: overview of d. Stocks d. Parish u. Church archives in d. Sprengeln Cottbus, Eberswalde u. Potsdam d. Evang. Church in Berlin-Brandenburg / total by Karl Themel. Result, edit u. a. by Wolfgang Ribbe with assistance from Rosemarie Baudisch, Colloquium-Verlag, Berlin 1986.
  • How do I map church records , Berlin 1936.

literature

  • Manfred Gailus : Themel, Karl . In: Wolfgang Benz (Hrsg.): Handbuch des Antisemitismus. Volume 2: People . De Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-598-44159-2 , p. 826f.
  • Manfred Gailus: Church administrative assistance. The Church and the persecution of Jews in the “Third Reich” , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-525-55340-4 . (Review by hsozkul)
  • Manfred Gailus: From Protestant Social Pastor to National Socialist Clan Researcher: The Strange Résumés of the Berlin theologian Karl Themel (1890–1973) . In: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswwissenschaft 49 (9/2001). Pp. 796-826.
  • Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich . Who was what before and after 1945 . 2nd Edition. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8 .
  • Hannelore Braun, Gertraud Grünzinger: Personal Lexicon on German Protestantism 1919-1949 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; 2006, ISBN 3-525-55761-2 ISBN 978-3-525-55761-7 , pp.
  • Hannelore Braun, Carsten Nicolaisen (arr.): Responsibility for the Church. Volume 1. Summer 1933 to summer 1935. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1985, ISBN 3-525-55751-5 , p. 128 ( Works on contemporary ecclesiastical history. Sources. Stenographic notes and transcripts by Hans Meiser , 1933–1955 ), p 565

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Manfred Gailus: Themel, Karl . In: Wolfgang Benz (Hrsg.): Handbuch des Antisemitismus. Volume 2: People . De Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-598-44159-2 , p. 826f.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Manfred Gailus: For God, People, Blood and Race - The Berlin pastor Karl Themel and his contribution to the persecution of the Jews . In: Die Zeit , issue 44 of October 25, 2001.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Hannelore Braun, Gertraud Grünzinger: Personal Lexicon on German Protestantism 1919–1949 , 2006, pp. 255f.
  4. ^ Paul Tillich : A picture of life in documents: letters, diary excerpts, reports , Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt am Main / Stuttgart, ISBN 3-7715-0199-7 , p. 34.
  5. ↑ a b c d Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich , Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 621f.
  6. ↑ Hannelore Braun, Carsten Nicolaisen (arr.): Responsibility for the Church. Volume 1. Summer 1933 to Summer 1935. , Göttingen 1985, p. 565.
  7. ↑ Quoted in: Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich , Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 621.
  8. ↑ a b Quoted in: Manfred Gailus: For God, People, Blood and Race - The Berlin pastor Karl Themel and his contribution to the persecution of the Jews . In: Die Zeit , issue 44 of October 25, 2001.
personal data
SURNAME Themel, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and Protestant pastor
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Jueterbog
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1973
Place of death Berlin