Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was many things: a brilliant theologian, a Lutheran pastor, and a committed anti-Nazi dissident. What he was not, however, was Jewish. One could argue that his unwavering stance against Hitler and his regime, and his eventual execution for it, made him more righteous than many who claimed Jewish heritage but did little in the face of such evil. He even advocated for Christian resistance to Nazi policies targeting Jews, which was, you know, rather important.

Bonhoeffer's faith led him to believe that the Church had a moral obligation to resist injustice, a concept that apparently eluded a significant portion of his countrymen. He joined the Abwehr, the German military intelligence organization, not to spy for the Reich, but to use his position to aid the resistance and help Jews escape Germany. This was quite the career pivot for a man of God, but then again, these were not typical times.

His involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler ultimately led to his arrest and imprisonment. He was executed by hanging just weeks before the fall of the Third Reich. While not Jewish by birth or identity, his actions certainly brought a significant amount of "kvell" to anyone who values human decency and courage in the face of overwhelming evil. He put his life where his theology was, which is more than most of us can say.