two groups he saw as essential building blocks for a new Germany, namely majority Protestant and minority Catholic churches; such was the background for ecumenism and collaborative work among the future martyrs. Moltke’s introduction of the Jesuits to the Kreisau Circle was due in part to one of the members, Baron Guttenberg, who encountered Augustin Rösch, provincial of the Upper German Province, in Berlin. In October 1941, while in Berlin to negotiate the dismissal of Jesuits from chaplaincy work in the German military, Rösch met Guttenberg on the street. Guttenberg led him to an apartment building on the outskirts of Berlin where the Jesuit Provincial could meet Moltke. Moltke disclosed to Rösch what he knew of the Red Army reserves from official Abwehr reports, and he went on to predict that Germany would lose the war to the Soviet Union in a few years if Hitler was not removed from office.
Moltke insisted on some form of organized resistance. He argued, “We must fight, we must do everything to save what can be saved.”111 He also expressed his disappointment at the conflict between the Confessing Church and the Nazi-supported Reich Church. The different orientations harmed the Protestants, whereas, from the perspective of Moltke, the unity and coherence of the Catholic Church were protected by the structure of the episcopacy and the pope. While discussing the differences between the “Evangelische” and the Catholic churches, Moltke surprisingly added, “As a Protestant, there is one thing I want to say to you: Christianity can only be saved through the German bishops and the pope. We must unite to save Christianity, which is still there, and to make our concern the re-Christianization of the working world.”112 Rösch was convinced, but he believed Moltke’s invitation for collaboration had to be clarified, because he did not want his Jesuits to participate in any act of violence. On December 4, 1941, Rösch met Moltke and assured him of his cooperation in the Kreisau Circle.
On the weekend of May 25–27, 1942, the first large-scale Kreisau Circle conference was held at Moltke’s estate in Silesia. The task was to plan for a Germany after the dissolution of the Third Reich. The themes of the conference were the system of education and the relationship between church and state. Rösch attended and offered the Catholic position. The participants agreed that Christianity was the most potent force for the moral renewal of German and Western society, for the overcoming of hatred and deceit and for peaceful cooperation between peoples.113 Participants desired that the reconstruction of German society should welcome the ecumenical insights of all the churches. At the end of the conference, Moltke asked Rösch to suggest a Jesuit political scientist who could help the Kreisau Circle by providing the Catholic viewpoints on the state and the economy.114 At Rösch’s suggestion, Alfred Delp was brought into the group. From July 1942 onwards, Delp was engaged in the work of the Kreisau Circle.
Before the second Kreisau conference, scheduled for October 16–18, 1942, Alfred Delp conducted preliminary meetings with Moltke and Rösch to understand better the issues that confronted the group. A text written by Delp, dated August 2, 1942, shed light on these issues.115
Delp and Moltke believed that the starting point for discussion was the dehumanization and disempowerment of peoples. Nevertheless, they acknowledged that there should be no direct political activity from the churches, whose contribution lay in awakening the consciousness of people and providing support to those who were able and willing to participate in the transformation of society. The second meeting of the Kreisau Circle occurred as planned over the weekend of October 16–18, 1942, and focused on building up the state and the economy. Delp facilitated the discussion that addressed the premises of two social encyclicals: Rerum Novarum by Pope Leo XIII; and Quadragesimo Anno by Pope Pius XI. In these papal letters, the Catholic Church expressed concern for the working poor and the lack of social justice in the world.116 One of the socialist members of the Kreisau Circle exclaimed that the exposition of Catholic social teaching by Delp and the Catholic bishop’s confirmation revealed that the Catholic Church had made an irrefutable turn to socialism.117 The socialist wrote, “This is an incredible historical decision!”118
Delp and Moltke desired an economic system that was neither an end in itself nor a domain of the state.119 Instead, they sought a middle way between communism and unbridled capitalism. The two men saw the economy as an instrument with which human beings could responsibly shape the external conditions of their lives. They judged the European community, not just Germany, to be broken and, therefore, maintained that a new foundation was needed and should be built with Catholic Social Teachings. Here, Delp’s concern for the persecuted moved into the social–political sphere.
The third Kreisau meeting, which took place over Pentecost 1943 (June 12–14) dealt with foreign affairs and the international economic order in the postwar period. It also grappled with the issue of punishing war criminals. Delp participated in this meeting and contributed in the area of restoring the rule of law. Delp’s handwritten drafts indicated the direction of his thoughts on these critical issues.120 His ideas aligned with the fundamental principles of a state governed by the rule of law, which proceeded from the premise of a human being’s God-given rights. He was concerned about the right to form associations and about the family. Delp believed that protecting the family was in the interest of society, such as by advocating for a family wage that would allow one parent to work and the other to raise their children. He also supported a healthy safety net that would protect households in the event of an economic crisis. The historian Ger van Roon points out that the “Declaration of Principles,” like other Kreisau Circle documents that emerged during and after the end of the third meeting, emphasized a responsible freedom. Roon writes,
To describe this social order as “free” is inadequate. Freedom can be interpreted as arbitrariness, as un-freedom for others. A better word is “responsible” used in several Kreisau documents. Responsibility assumes an obligation towards the community, but it does not set freedom aside or twist into collectivism. Every “responsible” order ought to develop between two poles of freedom and obligation; it is not the case of either/or, but of both/and. This approach shows the influence of Catholic ideas, as expressed in Quadragesimo Anno and other papal documents, as well as a reaction against the excessive claims which National Socialism made for the state.121
The planners worked from the premise that human beings were the subjects of the state rather than objects for its control and that human beings needed a social order that enabled them to live out their dignity as persons made in the image of God.122 Overall, Delp’s social and political concern was not to oppose the modern age but to address its problems, including its deep-seated anxiety, and to orient the modern world to the fullness of life in God. This orientation will be discussed in chapter 3.
On January 19, 1944, as part of a wider crackdown against conspirators and dissenters within the Abwehr, the Reich Security Office arrested Moltke. They were tipped off by a mole, who had overheard Moltke speaking about the war being lost and the necessity for a replacement for Hitler. The arrest had a decisive, adverse influence upon the development of the Kreisau Circle. Though Delp was arguably its intellectual head, especially regarding matters of state and the economy, it was Moltke who held everything together, provided the stimulus, and took the initiative. Moltke had organized the meetings, scheduled the conferences, and inspired people to action. The center was now missing, and the work of the Kreisau Circle came to a standstill, separating the group into individuals dispersed across Germany.
With Bound Hands: Delp’s Letters and Reflections from Prison
After a failed assassination attempt against Hitler on July 20, 1944, by Claus von Stauffenberg,123 the majority of the Kreisau members were implicated and detained. Eight days later, Delp was arrested in the sacristy after celebrating Mass at St. Georg’s in Munich. Delp was taken to the Gestapo prison in Berlin, where he remained in solitary confinement for nearly two months and was subjected to interrogation and abuse. During those months, some members of the Kreisau Circle were tortured, tried, and executed.124
