Faith Under Fascism: Catholic Sisters in Nazi Germany

A groundbreaking history that illuminates Catholic sisters at the center of the Catholic Church's encounter with Nazism. Faith under Fascism: Catholic Sisters in Nazi Germany reveals the vital role women religious played in confronting, navigating, and ultimately outlasting the Third Reich.Focusing on the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Martina Cucchiara restores nearly 92,000 Catholic sisters-long overshadowed by priests-to the history of Catholicism under Nazism. As teachers, the sisters encountered the Nazi regime daily in classrooms that became contested sites where Catholic faith, Nazi ideology, and the futures of Catholic and Jewish children intersected.Far from passive victims, the sisters engaged Nazi ideas selectively, creating temporary sanctuaries for Jewish students while also easing Catholic girls' participation in the Nazi state.Their experiences complicate simple narratives of resistance and collaboration, revealing a history marked by endurance, adaptation, and moral tens