The U.K.  Daily Mirror is not the first paper most think of when it comes to serious breaking news. But the Mirror was the first to break the story of Adolf Hitler doing a little editing of the Bible so he could use the power of the religion he hated to his further his maniacal cause.

It's said that approximately 100,000 Third Reich Bibles were actually published and distributed to thousands of churches in 1941.It's believed this particular copy, discovered in church offices in Hamburg, is one of the few if not the sole surviving "Deutsch mit Gott — Germans with God". The rest are assumed to have been destroyed by Christians that rightfully considered them blasphemous. Ironically, some may have even been burned along with thousands of other books on direct orders of Hitler himself.

Of course all Jewish words, such as Hallelujah and Jehovah were removed and any and all representations of compassion were erased.

The most blatant and significant amendments were Hitler's not 10 but 12 commandments! And we're not just talking about adding two new biblical house rules. Two were deemed démodéd  and deleted forthwith and four entirely new ones were handed down from on high. Six and eight, thou shalt not kill or steal, obviously would've interfered with the Fuhrer's plans for global domination so they just had to go. Below are Adolf Hitler's version of the Mount Sinai Missives.

1. Honor God and believe in him wholeheartedly

2. Seek out the peace of God (So far so good.)

3. Avoid all hypocrisy

4. Holy is your health and life

5. Holy is your well—being and honor

6. Holy is your truth and fidelity

7. Honor your father and mother — your children are your aid and your example

8. Keep the blood pure and your honor holy

9. Maintain and multiply the heritage of your forefathers

10. Be ready to help and forgive

11. Honor your Fuhrer and master  (11!? Modesty thy name is Hitler.)

12. Joyously serve the people with work and sacrifice.

Joseph Crowley   8 09 06 

Update: 8 09 06 10:50 AM PDT

I knew Hitler moved to constrain the Christian influence on German politics and eventually replace its impact on the nation's spiritual life with National Socialism, but I hadn't heard about his actual revision of the Bible and the additional commandments.  It puts some of Hitler's own comments about the pernicious mixing of religious with politics by the rival Catholic Centre Party, Deutsche Zentrumspartei , in a new light.  (Source (Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, by  John Cornwell, 1999)

One of the most interesting passages in Cornwell is from a series of letters written in the mid 1920's between Hitler and  a young Catholic Priest who had been exiled to a remote area for his support of the Nazis.  Hitler wrote the priest:  "I always and under all circumstances take it to be a misfortune when religion regardless in which form is joined to political parties." 

Ever since I read that passage I have enjoyed reminding members of  the ACLU,  People for the American Way and other lefties who complain about the impact of religious conservatives on American politics that Adolph Hitler, would be in complete agreement with them.  Hitler's private pronouncement that "You are either a Christian or a German.  You cannot be both." even as he publicly praised the Catholic and Lutheran churches in general terms while moving to consolidate his political power certainly seems to fit their agenda of praising freedom of religion even as they vigorously work to remove all traces of this nation's Judeo—Christian roots from the public arena. 

Rosslyn Smith