How Did Hitler Affect White Germans?

[Pat Mustard]

T4 ultimately was terminated because, as opposed to later atrocities, the population took note. One of the very few admirable clerics of the time, bishop Galen went out of his way to make his knowledge public. He published a pastoral letter to be read at every church in his diocese, brandiing the operation as what it was, with every detail he could gather. It's also a perfect example of how far high ranking people could go in opposing the regime, since Galen wasn't touched by the authorities. There's some correspondence about him in the archieves, where Himmler and his henchmen discuss his fate. They come to the conclusion, it would be unwise to persecute him during the war, since it would lead to public outrage.

They did go after von Galen's sister Helene, who was a nun, but she managed to escape them herself, and the Nazis backed off after that when they realised the negative publicity would be too much for them to counteract.