Bonhoeffer, Dietrich (1906–1945)

Born on February 4, 1906, in Breslau, Germany, to a prominent family, Dietrich Bonhoeffer resolved to become a pastor early in life. Studies at Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1930–1931 proved pivotal, as he observed the racism of white America, encountered the vibrancy of black church life, and became a devoted pacifist. Two days after Hitler became German chancellor in January 1933, Bonhoeffer delivered a radio broadcast denouncing the Führer that was interrupted by government censors. In an essay composed later that year, Bonhoeffer outlined three responses to a state that abuses its authority: (1) verbal criticism of the state, (2) the unconditional obligation to aid victims of state action, and (3) a call to political subversion as a last resort.

As Nazi sympathizers mounted their takeover of the Protestant church, Bonhoeffer helped form the dissident Confessing Church. In the midst of these struggles, Bonhoeffer wrote Discipleship, an exposition of the Sermon on the Mount that outlined the costs of Christian commitment and pacifism. Bonhoeffer directed the Confessing Church's seminary at Finkenwalde during 1936–1937 until it was shut down by the Gestapo. Subsequent reflection on the seminarians' common life led to the publication of Life Together, a highly regarded devotional work.

When German pastors were instructed to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler in 1938, Bonhoeffer and many of his students refused. In that year, Bonhoeffer began to question some of his earlier pacifism and became more directly involved with the Resistance movement. Through contact with his brother-in-law, a member of German Abwehr (counterintelligence), Bonhoeffer was informed of military plots to overthrow the Nazi regime. An invitation to teach at Union Seminary in the summer of 1939 lasted only briefly, as Bonhoeffer resolved to return home at the dawn of war, vowing to share in the trials of his homeland. In 1940, Bonhoeffer became an agent of the Abwehr, ostensibly to advance the war but actually serving the Resistance, traveling abroad and using his church contacts to keep allies abreast of conspiracy efforts.

Bonhoeffer used these contacts in helping plan Operation 7, a clandestine effort that smuggled 14 Jews to Switzerland. Most notable of his resistance activities was his involvement in a plot to place a bomb aboard Hitler's airplane in March 1943. In April, Bonhoeffer was arrested for his involvement in the foiled assassination attempt and spent the remainder of his life in prison, writing several letters now regarded as classics of theological and resistance literature. He was executed on April 9, 1945, at Flössenburg concentration camp, during the waning weeks of World War II. Bonhoeffer's writings and biography have been enormously influential, having a broad impact on theologians, ethicists, and political activists who have emerged in his wake.