Pictures courtesy of International Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society

The early life Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- along with his twin sister, Sabine -- was born on February 4, 1906, in Breslau, Germany. At an early age he decided he wanted to become a minister, a decision supported by his intitially skeptical parents. He attended college in Tubingen, recieveing a doctorate in theology from the University of Berlin, and studying briefly at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. He wrote his dissertation, Sanctorum Communio, at the end of three years at the University of Berlin (1924-1927) and was awarded his doctorate with honors. He assumed a post as a lecturer in theology at the University of Berlin in 1931. Bonhoeffer served as a curate for a German congregation in Barcelona during 1929-1930. Following his ordination at St. Matthias Church, Berlin, in November 1931, he was to help organize the Pastors' Emergency League in September 1933, prior to asssuming the pastorate of the German Evangelical Church, Sydenham, and the Reformed Church of St. Paul in London. While in England, Bonhoeffer became a close friend of Anglican Bishop, George Bell. He returned to Germany to head an illegal seminary for Confessing Church pastors, first in Finkenwalde and then at the von Blumenthal estate of Gross Schlönwitz, which was closed on the outbreak of war. His authorization to teach on the faculty of the University of Berlin was finally withdrawn on August 5, 1936 as the result of his strong opposition to the Nazi Party. The Gestapo also banned him from preaching; then teaching; and finally any kind of public speaking. During this time, Bonhoeffer worked closely with numerous opponents of Adolf Hitler. During World War II, Bonhoeffer played a key leadership role in the Confessing Church, which opposed the anti-semitic policies of Adolf Hitler. He was among those who called for wider church resistance to Hitler's treatment of the Jews. While the Confessing Church was not large, it represented a major source of Christian opposition to the Nazi government in Germany.In 1939, Bonhoeffer joined a hidden group of high-ranking military officers based in the Abwehr, or Military Intelligence Office, who wanted to overthrow the National Socialist regime by killing Hitler. He was arrested in April 1943 after money used to help Jews escape to Switzerland was traced to him. He was charged with conspiracy and imprisoned in Berlin for a year and a half. After the unsuccessful July 20 Plot in 1944, Bonhoeffer's connections to the conspirators were discovered. He was moved to a series of prisons and concentration camps ending at Flossenburg. Here, he was executed by hanging at dawn on 9 April 1945, just three weeks before the liberation of the city.


Deitrich Bonhoeffer is a man of faith because of his actions, as well as his theological works and writings. Despite being isolated by his government for his opposition to their policies, despite having his professional life destroyed as he lost his job, his reputation and eventually his brother and brother-in-laws (executed in 1945 by the SS), like Job he never wavered in his opposition to the Nazis and assisted numerous Jews to escape to Switzerland, as well as actively participating in a conspiracy against Hitler. His strenght of belief in, and loyalty to, what he thought was right overrode other considerations, a very model of faith. His writings also reveal the depth of his faith. His "Letters and Papers from Prison" continue to intrigue theologians with their new ideas of "religionless Christianity" and "a world come of age". He is embraced by liberal and conservative Christians (although they interpret his writings in radically different ways) for his insightful and inspired observations of the nature and reality of Christianity.


Bonhoeffer's faith in God has no apparent root. His family was not religious, he had no immediate relatives in religious work, and there is noone who appears to have influenced him in that direction. His faith and desire to serve God, present from an early age, seem to be a part of his personality and defined the direction his life went.


Other Sources Wikipedia.org