First I want you to ask yourself… why do you think Hitler is an atheist? Have you looked into the matter, have you researched it, or is it just something you were told, or had heard? Are you the victim of propaganda or an urban legend?

It is actually a myth and one happily repeated by the religious when arguing atheists, mostly because they heard it from someone else; I certainly didn't know it was a myth, despite not actually believing it, until I actually started doing some research.

I have no idea why people think Hitler was an atheist.

The first time I heard someone say Hitler was an atheist was when I was talking to a religious apologist who claimed that Hitler was proof that all atheists are immoral and only the bible will bring peace; an argument as valid as saying all Christians are/support paedophiles because a number of Christian priests are such and the church covered up for them. (There is much other evidence to also ridicule that notion, but that would be a digression).

I'd always assumed that Hitler was a Christian; not because I'd done any investigation or had thought much about it, it just seemed natural; almost everyone at the time was Christian and Hitler's rallying cry against the Jews was that they were “Christ-killers”, hardly something that would bother an atheist.

I've also spoken about him with my grand-parents and my strongly catholic Oma (Granny), who once saw him at a parade and attested to his phenomenal charisma, never gave me the impression she thought him an atheist.

So I decided to find out for myself.

There is rather a lot written about Hitler's beliefs. Most of the disagreement stems from the fact that Hitler didn't appear to be your “average” believer; add to that that he is probably the most reviled figure in history and it's no wonder no church wants him associated with them. His speeches were ambiguous at times and he became considerably more anti-organised-religion when the church started becoming a potential obstacle to his own goals.

Here's a good collection of evidence supporting Hitler's religion, although given the source, you might well be forgiven for thinking it biased.

Slightly less biased maybe is another site.

Hitler's own views on atheism were delivered in a speech of his:

“We were convinced that the people need and require this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out”.

Source: Norman H. Baynes, ed. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939, Vol. 1 of 2, Oxford University Press, 1942

I used to think that atheists were also rounded up and sent to the concentration camps. While this is undoubtedly true, I have not been able to find any supporting evidence to suggest that they were sent there for being atheists, and so I cannot support that belief.

Pulitzer Prize winning author/historian John Toland, author of probably the most respected biography of Hitler, wrote of him:

“Still a member in good standing of the Church of Rome despite detestation of its hierarchy, he carried within him its teaching that the Jew was the killer of god. The extermination, therefore, could be done without a twinge of conscience since he was merely acting as the avenging hand of God - so long as it was done impersonally, without cruelty.”

More sources of information include:

• Source 1
• Source 2

Both authors above have doubts about Hitler's Christianity, but both are sure that Hitler could not have been an atheist. The wikipedia entry for Hitler also appears quite balanced and also indicates that Hitler was very unlikely to have been an atheist, relevant section quoted below:

Hitler was raised by Roman Catholic parents, but as a school boy he rejected Catholicism as he was influenced by nationalism. Apparently, after Hitler left home, he never attended Mass or received the Sacraments.[55] In later life, Hitler's religious beliefs present a discrepant picture: Publicly he often spoke positively of the Christian heritage of German culture and belief in Christ. Hitler’s private statements, reported by his intimates, are more mixed, showing Hitler as a religious man but also critical of Christianity.[56] However, in contrast to other Nazi leaders, Hitler did not adhere to esoteric ideas, occultism, or neo-paganism,[56] and ridiculed such beliefs in his book Mein Kampf.[citation needed] Rather, Hitler advocated a “Positive Christianity”, a belief system purged from what he objected to in traditional Christianity, and reinvented Jesus as a fighter against the Jews. Hitler believed in Arthur de Gobineau's ideas of struggle for survival between the different races, among which the “Aryan race”—guided by “Providence”—was supposed to be the torchbearers of civilization and the Jews as enemies of all civilization. Whether his anti-semitism was influenced by older Christian ideas remains disputed. Among Christian denominations, Hitler favored Protestantism, which was more open to such reinterpretations.[citation needed] At the same time, he made use of some elements of the Catholic Church's hierarchical organization, liturgy and phraseology in his politics.[57][58]

Was Hitler a “true” christian; and just what is a “true” christian?

A man considered a “true” christian 300 years ago might well be considered a monster by today's standards. Hitler is quite indistinguishable in his attitudes and actions from quite a few popes and other religious leaders in history. The Catholic church in Germany supported Hitler, even the Vatican did not object to his actions, Hitler even received regular birthday gifts from the Pope (can't find the source for that atm, but the summary for John Cornwell's book “Hitler's Pope”, should provide some supporting evidence for its veracity.).

Mein Kampf and Hitler's speeches are filled with references to his Christianity and his Christian views (see the websites I've listed). If Hitler was so charismatic that “he didn't need religion” why did he bother with it then if he wasn't religious? The following picture would make a great Christian Christmas card, until at least you're told it was painted by Hitler himself, again, why bother if he wasn't a Christian?

Like so many Christian sects in that past and present (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, Methodist etc) each has their own interpretation of the bible, yet each is still considered Christian. Hitler's sect appears to have been “Positive Christianity” (see Wikipedia), does that not also make him a Christian in so far as all the other sects can be considered to be Christian?

Whatever Hitler might have been, a Christian in his own mind only, a Christian in the broader sense, or not a Christian at all, one thing that is abundantly clear is that Hitler was not an atheist. His views and the supporting evidence clearly indicate as much.