In the early stages of the Nazi regime there was some co-operation with them and the churches - Hitler signed a Concordat with the Catholic Church in 1933 which meant that Hitler would leave the church alone and allow it to keep control of the Catholic schools in return for them staying out of politics
Hitler tried to get all of the Protestant churches to come together in one official church which was headed by Muller. However, Germans thought there true loyalties lay with the local churches in there areas rather than a state approved one
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Opposition for the Churches
Many churchgoers either supported the Nazis or did little to oppose him however, there were some exceptions
Galen criticised the Nazis through the 1930s and in 1941 he led an popular protest against there policies of killing disabled people which temporary forced them to stop
He had such strong support that the Nazis decided it was too risky to try to silence them because they didn't want trouble whilst there was a war
Niemoller also resisted the Nazis in the 1930s
Along with Bonhoeffer he formed an alternative church to the official state one
He spent 7 years in a concentration camp for resisting the Nazis and Bonhoeffer was stopped preaching by the Gestapo in 1937
He then became involved with members of the army's intelligence services who secretly opposed Hitler
He helped Jews escape from Germany and in 1942 he contacted the Allied commanders and asked what peace terms they would offer if Hitler was overthrown
He was arrested in October 1942 and killed in April 1945
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