Margot Käßmann, the former head of the Protestant and Lutheran Churches in Germany, has admitted that her church had been complicit in fostering anti-Semitism in Germany since the times of Martin Luther.
Käßmann called Luther’s 1543 pamphlet ‘About the Jews and their lies’ “horrible” and wrote in an opinion article published by the German monthly ‘Cicero’: “There was a strong anti-Jewish tendency present in Protestantism. Hence there is a history of guilt.”
However, Käßmann, who currently serves as the church’s special ambassador to mark the 500th anniversary of the posting of Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses in which he disputed the Catholic Church doctrine, said the church had learnt from past mistakes, and today, such anti-Semitism was “unthinkable” in the church.
Meanwhile, the renowned German crimiologist Christian Pfeiffer urged the Protestant Church to do more to deal with past anti-Semitism. He suggest a commission of historians to examine the impact of Luther’s anti-Jewish teachings. Over the centuries, Luther’s anti-Semitism had impacted the thinking of many people, and the Nazis had exploited that. Therefore, it was wrong that some church leaders put Martin Luther onto a pedestal to protect him and his legacy from any criticism, said Pfeiffer.