German Evangelical Alliance Expands 1946 Confession Regarding Nazi-Era Complicity

The Evangelical Alliance in Germany (EAD) has issued an expanded confession of guilt, formally asking the Jewish people for forgiveness for the organization's historical support of the Nazi regime. During a devotional service held on November 9, 2026, at their Berlin office, alliance leaders acknowledged that their predecessors welcomed Adolf Hitler’s 1933 rise to power and utilized biblical arguments to justify anti-Jewish measures. This new statement serves as an update to a 1946 confession, which the EAD now describes as incomplete because it failed to explicitly name the Jewish people as victims of the era's errors.

The date of the announcement was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the 1938 Reichspogromnacht. Beyond addressing historical failures, the EAD committed itself to the protection of Jewish people today. This pledge comes amid rising concerns regarding antisemitism in Germany, where authorities recorded 6,548 antisemitic crimes in 2025. The EAD’s working group on Israel, Judaism, and the Middle East conducted the reexamination of the alliance's past conduct, concluding that the actions of previous leaders contradicted the gospel of Jesus Christ.