The special exhibition "And forgive us our trespasses? Churches and Monasteries under National Socialism" at Dalheim Monastery is the first to take a comprehensive look at the complex relationship between the Christian churches and National Socialism. The exhibition examines the tension between collaboration and resistance and places the behavior of Christian actors - from simple believers to bishops and the Pope - in a historical context.
Using more than 200 exhibits from museums and archives, the exhibition shows how National Socialism attempted to suppress the Christian faith and what role Christian motives played in the resistance. The exhibition also focuses on the involvement of churches and their followers in the National Socialists' policy of oppression and extermination.
Central themes are the Reich Concordat negotiations between the Vatican and the Nazi regime, the opposition between German Christians and the confessing church and the churches' institutional reappraisal of the Nazi era. With letters, diaries and previously unpublished documents from the Vatican archives, the exhibition provides vivid insights into the suffering of the victims and the actions of perpetrators, accomplices and resistance fighters.
