New General Mission Journal
The New General Mission Journal (NAMZ) was the largest mission science journal of German-speaking Protestantism. It appeared monthly from its first edition (1924) until it was banned by the National Socialists (1938).
Its conservative and nationalist profile - the NAMZ was the unofficial organ of the German Evangelical Mission Council , through which all of the major German mission societies were presented to the outside world - made them susceptible to the emerging Nazi ideology, so that they were in the Nazi era (1933-45 ) nationally to racist positions and thus their self-claims: That is why we want our paper to maintain its unconditional independence. It should not serve a society, not a party, not a direction, but only the will of Jesus. ( Martin Schlunk , "To the new beginning", in: NAMZ 1 (1924), p. 4) largely gave up in favor of partisanship for the Nazi state and Nazi ideology.
publishing company
The NAMZ was published by the Protestant book publisher Bertelsmann in Gütersloh. In 2002 the Independent Commission for Research into the History of Bertelsmann in the Third Reich published a 750-page report on the role of the publishing house in the Nazi state. In the report, the commission comes to the conclusion that Bertelsmann
“Neither a publishing house of the Confessing Church nor an organ of the German Christians [was]. Its 'middle line' and its focus on tradition, however, did not guarantee a distance from National Socialism; on the contrary, a political theology developed at Bertelsmann that tended to work towards National Socialism "
Since Bertelsmann Verlag has published a large number of different works, the judgment varies from work to work. However, the publisher gives each work a certain framework. The publisher and editor must have agreed in advance on the conception of the respective work. There can be points of friction between the two actors, but a minimum consensus must exist, otherwise it would not have been published.
Authors
In the NAMZ published by Julius Richter and Martin Schlunk there are authors with different professional backgrounds, different denominations, ethnic backgrounds and positions in the “ church struggle ” in the NAMZ , so that a large part of the spectrum of the German missionary movement (and “non-specialists”) is in the NAMZ is mapped. In principle, anyone who stood on the "ground of the gospel" was allowed to write for the NAMZ , as Schlunk wrote in the editorial of the first edition of the NAMZ :
“Everyone who believes in the gospel is free to express their opinion. Diversity serves truth better than dictatorship. One can and should learn from opponents! And yet we would not like to see in our paper a lecture hall for any opinions, but only give the floor to those who are one with us in the basic direction of thought. "
Among the authors are missionaries (e.g. Bruno Gutmann ), chairmen of the mission societies (e.g. Karl Hartenstein , Johannes Warneck, Carl Ihmels), professors for missiology (e.g. Walter Freytag ), actually theologians from outside the field ( e.g. Paul Althaus ) and representatives of the neighboring sciences ( Carl Meinhof ). Members of the various German regional churches (Lutheran and Union) make up the vast majority of the authors. But there are also authors from other denominational backgrounds, such as Knut Westmann, a professor from Upsala and a member of the Church of Sweden.
Often, works from the English-speaking world were also reviewed in the “Book Reviews” category, although German works made up the majority. Interestingly, the 1933 issue of A Christian's Position on the National Crisis by Chen Tsing and Nung Ping's 1936 issue of The Woman Working in Rural Kwangsi reprinted in translation. In 1935 an East African teacher thought about the order and tasks of the community. reprinted in the NAMZ after an adaptation by the missionary Paul Wohlrab . The tradition of the NAMZ to allow non-European Christians to have their say, in order to break the dichotomy of colonizers and colonized, is thus also continued in the Nazi era.
Even Hans Kosmala , head of the Institutum judaicum Delitzschianum (IJD) comes with an article in the edition of 1934 to speak out and are so the Jewish mission one vote. However, it should stay with one essay. There were no Jewish authors in the NAMZ. Even in the issues before the Nazi era (1924–1932), no people with a Jewish background wrote for the NAMZ.
Position of the NAMZ on the Nazi state and Nazi ideology
The relationship between the NAMZ and the Nazi state and ideology can only be understood against the background of the historical legacy of the German missionary movement. In contrast to the Western missionary movement, which in its entirety found productive ways to deal with the “Modern Project”, the German missionary movement was generated by theological thought figures (“Creation orders”, “ Volkstum ”, “ Volksmission ”) and political events (trauma from Versailles) increasingly anti-democratic, reactionary and nationalistic. The reactionary theology of the German missionary movement, including its rejection of the hated liberal , secular and democratic Weimar Republic, drove it into the arms of the National Socialists in 1933. In the National Socialists, large parts of the German missionary movement believed they had found an ally for their “re-evangelization project” in their homeland and in the mission areas.
The National Socialists, however, responded to the missionary movement's attempts to ingratiate themselves after initial hesitation with discrimination, censorship and bans. The missionary movement failed to provide an adequate response. She did not position herself clearly on the side of the BK. Criticism, which certainly existed, always remained inherent in the system and was never exercised beyond that.
Revision of independent mission structures
The NAMZ reflects this. At the same time, in its function as the most important mission science journal of German Protestantism, it was also an actor in the Nazi state, which set its own accents and was perceived as such by the Nazi authorities. The NAMZ enthusiastically welcomed the seizure of power by the National Socialists. Even an integration into the missionary movement in the imperial church was discussed by the NAMZ, which increasingly generated itself as a mouthpiece for the DEMR, but then rejected for pragmatic reasons. Nonetheless, the NAMZ made many suggestions as to how the liaison with the Nazi state could be improved. But the NAMZ's love for the Nazi state was not based on reciprocity. The relationship was unilaterally ended by the NS authorities - the NAMZ was finally banned by the NS state in 1938 - after the NAMZ lost its unconditional independence, censored itself, did not communicate important concerns of the heart and not only the will of Jesus, but also the NS state and served Hitler.
Colonial revisionism
Colonial revisionism existed before, but finally became the lingua franca of the German missionary movement when the National Socialists came to power. As a scientific journal that was also noticed abroad, however, the NAMZ was not the medium to communicate this. On a positive note, the NAMZ allowed Chinese and Africans to have their say as authors even during the Nazi era, and at least on this point it was not intimidated by Nazi ideology.
Anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism
Many authors mixed their Christian anti-Judaism with elements of racist Nazi anti-Semitism to a mixture that they advocated the Nuremberg Laws and also kept silent on discrimination and murder ( Reichspogromnacht ). Bonhoeffer's dictum: "Whoever does not scream for the Jews must not sing in Gregorian" silences the NAMZ. Only the NAMZ never wanted to give up the mission to the Jews entirely, but this was irrelevant in the overall context (contributions by Kosmala (1934) and Richter (1939)).
Individual evidence
- ^ Bertelsmann in the Third Reich. Volume 1: Report, ed. Saul Friedländer, Norbert Frei, Trutz Rendtorff and Reinhard Wittmann, Munich 2002, p. 553.
- ↑ Martin Schlunk, "To the new beginning", in: NAMZ 1 (1924), p. 7
- ↑ Chen Tsing “A Christian's Position on the National Crisis”, in: NAMZ 10 (1933), pp. 133–143.
- ↑ Nung Ping, "The woman as a worker in the Kwangsis", in: NAMZ 13 (1936), pp. 420-426.
- ↑ Reported and edited by Paul Wohlrab, "thought an East African teacher on the organization and duties of the community," in: u NAMZ 12 (1935), pp 381-390. 401-411.
- ↑ Jonas Licht, Between Cross and Swastika. Mission studies journals in the time of National Socialism (= master's thesis), Hamburg 2016, pp. 100–101.