Person    | Male  Born 4/2/1906  Died 9/4/1945

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Categories: Execution, Religion

Countries: Germany

Lutheran pastor and theologian. 1933 - 35 he was a pastor at two German speaking London churches: German Evangelical Church - Sydenham and the German Reformed Church of St Paul's - Whitechapel.

Born Breslau, now in Poland. He studied in the USA, returned to Germany in 1931 and was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in Berlin. He openly opposed the rise of Hitler but was disappointed at the lack of support so he accepted a 2-year appointment in London.

He returned to Germany where the Nazis opposed his teachings so he ran underground seminaries. He made contact with the German resistance in 1938 but then briefly returned to the States. Feeling a duty to be in Germany he returned and again the Nazis restricted his activities.

He joined the Abwahr, a military intelligence group, officially pro-Nazi but also a centre of resistance and where the assassination of Hitler was planned. (Why the Nazis accepted him is a mystery to us.) In 1943 he was, with others, arrested and eventually executed by hanging.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Commemorated ati

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - E1

Unveiled by the Bishop of London.

Read More

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - SE23

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906 - 1945, theologian and pastor, lived here, 1933 - 1...

Read More

Forest Hill mural

{Panel 1:} A Brief Local History In medieval times this area was known as The...

Read More

Other Subjects

John Davy

John Davy

Monk at London Charterhouse. Taken to Newgate Prison, chained and left to starve to death.

Person, Execution, Religion

1 memorial
Stephen Harwood

Stephen Harwood

Burnt at the stake in Stratford for his Protestant beliefs. A brewer, associated with Fust. Condemned by Bishop Bonner.

Person, Execution, Religion

1 memorial
Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey

Married to Lord Guilford Dudley.  Her husband’s father persuaded the dying Edward VI to declare his two sisters Mary and Elizabeth illegitimate, which left Jane, on Edward's death, the queen.  Mary...

Person, Execution, Royalty, Seriously Famous

4 memorials
Operation Anthropoid

Operation Anthropoid

The code name for the assassination of SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, Reinhard Heydrich. This was the only only targeted killing of a top-ranking Nazi.  The operation was carried out...

Event, Execution, Czechoslovakia

1 memorial
Rosa Luxemburg

Rosa Luxemburg

Revolutionary socialist. Born Rozalia Luksenburg, she was a Polish and naturalised-German orthodox Marxist, and anti-War activist during WW1. She became a key figure of the revolutionary socialist ...

Person, Execution, Politics & Administration, Tragedy, Germany, Poland, Russia

1 memorial