" He who believes does not flee. "

Hitler critic died for his convictions
02:10 PM CST on Friday, February 3, 2006
By BRUCE TOMASO / The Dallas Morning News
Dietrich Bonhoeffer might have escaped the Nazis. But he couldn't escape his faith.
The German theologian, an early, outspoken critic of Hitler, got out of Germany right before the outbreak of World War II, taking refuge in New York City just as other dissident clergy were being rounded up and imprisoned.
Also Online
International Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society Web site
PBS site on the documentary
In New York, however, he happened upon a passage from Isaiah: "He who believes does not flee." And he knew he had to go home and continue the struggle against the Reich.
The life and death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer – he was hanged by the Nazis for his role in a plot to assassinate Hitler – are the subject of a PBS documentary on Monday, coinciding with what would have been his 100th birthday.
"He lived at a time when human nature was showing its cruelest, darkest side," said Martin Doblmeier, the film's director. "Yet he remained deeply committed to the notion of community, the notion that the church should be Christ's community on earth."
Bonhoeffer debuted in theaters in June 2003 to critical acclaim. Among other prizes, it won a 2004 Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council.
The hourlong PBS show is an edited version of the original film, which ran 93 minutes. Mr. Doblmeier spoke of the editing process as one might of having a molar extracted.
"It's definitely a richer, fuller film in the 90-minute version," he said. "There is more texture. But I'm deeply grateful that PBS is making it available to a national audience." (The full-length version is available on DVD.)
The director said two powerful influences led Bonhoeffer to fight the Nazis: his family and his experiences in America.
Years before his short-lived attempt to flee to New York, he studied there, at Union Theological Seminary. One of his teachers was Reinhold Niebuhr, who introduced him to Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where civil rights activism was part of the pastoral fabric.
Bonhoeffer's brother and two brothers-in-law were also executed for plotting against Hitler. "His family's role in the resistance was deeply rooted," Mr. Doblmeier said.
Bonhoeffer was hanged on April 9, 1945. By then, the war was all but over. The Allies were storming toward Berlin. Hitler would commit suicide three weeks later.
Surrender quickly followed. But not, Mr. Doblmeier said, before "they used every minute available to them to kill as many people as possibly could be killed."
E-mail btomaso@dallasnews.com
DETAILS: Bonhoeffer will air on KERA-TV (Channel 13) at 10 p.m. on Monday. For more on the documentary, go to www.journeyfilms.com.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/arts/stories/020406dnrelartmattersbonn.1f826d9c.html