No Ordinary Men: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi, Resisters Against Hitler in Church and State (New York Review Books Collections) Hardcover – Illustrated, September 17, 2013

Overview:This is a short but detailed account of both Bonhoeffer and Dohnanyi's resistance to Hitler's regime. It explores the internal struggles both men wrestled with emotionally, spiritually and eventually physically. It also seeks to show the inner workings of the resistance strategies and complexities as well as the relational ties these men had. Spiritual Insights:In life we need to struggle through our rationalization decision making process using psychological tricks such as compartmentalization to assist us. We often divide life's circumstances in order to form a response by choosing spiritual verses physical, or emotional verses logical or theological verses secular. This helps us either to avoid acting in a situation or to move ahead to accomplish a task God may be asking us to do. Bonhoeffer and Dohnanyi both struggled from the beginning and the slow rise of national socialism into the wartime chaos of life and the neat, tidy compartmentalization rational life that existed prior to Hitler's ultimate rise as dictator. We also need to struggle with our ever growing, ever encroaching governmental overreach and power grabs in various areas life once thought verboten. It is not an option to decide, for example, to just be spiritual and not look to another's physical needs, or if your current government's ideology is clearly anti-biblical to simply not teach the biblical truths surrounding those subjects in your church. We must resist evil, rescue the dying, protect the vulnerable and bind up the wounded. Faith must be accompanied by works/action or it is dead. Bonhoeffer said, "What keeps gnawing at me is the question, what is Christianity, or who is Christ actually for us today?" "What mattered most was the inner life of faith, which for him was not at all the life of someone trying to be pious or merely treasuring piety's outward forms; it was about 'living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities." He also "used the word 'religion' almost pejoratively referring to the outer forms of established faith practices; he thought that most of Christianity's encrusted habits and structures that had been revered for centuries might, even should, be jettisoned.'"Dohnanyi struggled internally as Chief Assistant to the Reich's Minister of Justice (Guertner) that he too, "had become against his will a part of the National Socialist system." "Hitler had kept Guertner on so as to reassure people that the 'law' remained in non-Nazi hands. Dohnanyi "remarkably, with cool-headed efficiency and rising outrage...began to keep a chronological record, along with supporting evidence and an index, of the regime's illegal acts. "Dohnanyi, who at the very end of his life was haunted by having involved Dietrich in the anti-Hitler plots." As Bonhoeffer's brother-in-law, marrying Dietrich's older sister Christel and part of the family it was a greater emotional burden on Dohnanyi having recruited Dietrich into the actual plots to assassinate Hitler. AwakeandReady(dot)org Book Rating:I give this book a 4 star rating. I loved the book's ability to cover so much territory in so few pages but yet because of this fact, the book seemed disjointed at times giving names and times without enough connections to those people and places etc. All and all, this was a very good read and I recommend it to anyone wanting to get started in understanding Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi - hero's of the faith and humanity.

I have long wondered how the Nazis managed to squelch any criticism of their management of the national policies. Granted, here in the USA we speak, nay, shout our disapproval of politics and policies we don't agree with. But, could the Germans be so docile, so ignorant, so tame, they just said, "so what?" to everything that was changing in their daily lives? And yet, that is what occurred. They seemed to knuckle under rather easily. I have been exploring this question through quite a few books recently after reading Ambassador Dodd's diary. He was our last Ambassador to Germany before WWII and it is quite a frank book. So, it was a real pleasure to come to know the Bonhoeffer family and to see that they were not the type of family to simply acquiese in behavior and policies they believed were inherently amoral. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a theologian, could not in good conscience remain quiet. That he lived as long as he did proves his international influence and the uneasiness within the Nazi regime. Perhaps they had a fear of just removing him. Hans von Dohnanyi, Dietrich's brother-in-law, decided to work from within, collecting and cataloging the atrocities he was seeing from the inside. Both worked quietly and behind the scenes to overthrow Hitler. Bonhoeffer's name is still remembered but unfortunately for history, Dohnanyi has never received the credit he deserves. Good research and good footnotes are an additional plum in this very good pie!

The book "No Ordinary Men" has the tone of an adventure narrative and the depth of a theological treatise. Both Bonhoffer and Dohnanyi, were members of prominent German families whose scholarship and imaginative use of their erudition would have earned them at least marginal respect in a variety of cultures and political environments. The risks both took in opposing the Nazi regime by joining a conspiracy to end Hitler's life gave their activities historical significance. Looking beyond their own existence, they asked, "what will happen to Germany after the Nazi regime is overcome?" What truths will emerge when evil has been vanquished and sanity is restored? Can Germany admit the error of its anti-semitic biases which evident even before Hitler came to power/As the shadow of oppression and evil haunted Europe and then the rest of the world, religion began to lose its soul. Both Protestant and Catholic leaders capitulated to Hitler's evil designs. Only the "Confessing Church" a small group of dissidents, resisted the twisted thinking and outrageous acts of the Third Reich, This book combines theological reasoning with bold ethical insight.The authors decline to nominate its subjects for some form of Protestant sainthood, choosing instead to present a balanced view of the true humanity of two men who were anything but "ordinary." And thus it remains credible to the end.

I bought this book due to personal reasons: 1) for more information and 2) my pastor grandfather was a member of the Confessing Church led by Martin Niemöller and like him and many others was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo in Darmstadt, Hessen. They did not talk much about this time and their experiences at home and I longed to know more. Therefore this book 'No Ordinary Men' gave me more insight and admiration for my grandfather and the risks he took. Elisabeth Sifton and Fritz Stern also mention the murderous program of liquidating disabled patients and incurable babies and children. I thank them especially for including this. My brother was born with meningitis and I remember well how scared my mother was of him being taken away by the authorities to be killed. She knew about the killings thanks to her Confessing Church pastor father. With the help of a homoeopathic doctor she saved her son, who grew up doing A-levels, getting married and has three children. For me this book is the best I have read on the subject and being relatively small I read it in one go. I feel it is a must read for all who have only a faint idea about those horrible events and what people had to endure under the Nazis.

Not much more I can add to the poignant tributes and postings , having spent a lot of time in Germany where the Satanic Nature of The Third Reich took place - been to Buchenwald - Pastor Paul Schneider , Flossenburg , Plotzenzee , Bonhoeffers family home on the outskirts of Berlin . Lest We Forget the German Resistance Movements - White Rose / Swing Kids / Confessing Churches .Powerful , gripping book .

Bonhoeffer's death has been covered in great detail many times. His brother in law, Hans von Dohnanyi is less well know even though he played a more prominent role in the plot against Hitler. A worthwhile book.

A story of men and women with courage. An inspiring tale that is well worth reading in these times.

An interesting book but not easy reading, for me. I found it difficult to follow at times and the complexity of the religious aspects.