There are many tributes to the German Lutheran minister, theologian and anti-Nazi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was hanged 80 years ago on 9 April, charged with plotting to assassinate Hitler.
Regarded as a modern-day martyr, his statue is placed above the west entrance of Westminster Abbey, alongside Mother Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King Jr. and Óscar Romero.
From 1933 – 35 he was a pastor at two German speaking London churches, the German Evangelical Church in Sydenham and the German Reformed Church of St Paul’s in Whitechapel. But his life and legacy is of current debate today.
The Church Times carries an explanation of how he has become a hero of right wing Christian nationalists in the US. Last year, a film about his life “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin”, was appropriated by right wing nationalists picking up its theme: “How far will you go to stand up for what’s right?”, an association of ideas condemned by the cast and film writer who said the film was anti-fascist in intent. There is an ongoing appeal to sign the Bonhoeffer Declaration against hatred of Jews. And in Germany, journalist Ralf Bosen writing in Die Welt, sticks to the facts, and says Bonhoeffer is an inspiration for his responsibility to those who are weaker.