German church unveils testament to Nazi-era ‘dejudification institute’

Lutheran program aimed to eliminate all Jewish influence from Christian life in Germany, including deleting references to Jews in the Bible

By AP 7 May 2019, 5:11 am

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People stand around an installation during the official inauguration of a memorial in remembrance of the Institute for the Study and Elimination of Jewish Influence on German Church Life during the Third Reich in Eisenach, Germany, May 6, 2019. The words on the memorial read: 'We have gone astray'. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

BERLIN — High-ranking officials of Germany’s Lutheran church have unveiled an installation to remember the malign activities of a so-called “dejudification institute” that was founded 80 years ago to eliminate all Jewish influence from Christian life in the country then run by the Nazis.

Lutheran Bishop Ilse Junkermann unveiled the memorial Monday in the eastern German town of Eisenach in conjunction with several members of state Lutheran churches from across Germany whose predecessor organizations founded the institute in 1939.

The institute had aimed to delete all positive references about Jews in the Bible and to push out Jewish converts from the church.