Sampey Visits Germany

Southern President John Sampey visited Nazi-controlled Germany in 1934 and shared his experience in his Memoirs:

“The Board of Trustees of the Seminary encouraged me in taking part in the Baptist Congress in Berlin. The Executive Committee of the Seminary voted $750 toward the expenses of the trip. We spent about a week in Berlin, being hospitably entertained in the Continental Hotel. We had delightful fellowship with our Baptist brethren from all parts of the world. We enjoyed the meetings of the Baptist World Congress. We were treated with courtesy by German officials.

I was one of twelve persons invited to meet the Reichbishof to hear his announcement concerning the Free Churches, to the effect that they would not be incorporated into the Established Church. I was also one of the group of forty invited to meet the Mayor of Berlin at afternoon tea to hear his description of the wonderful advantages of Christian socialism. Evidently they were using propaganda on us, in favor of the regime fostered by Hitler. The Baptist Congress adjourned for an hour at the time of the funeral of President von Hindenburg, as we listened to two addresses, one of which was made by Adolf Hitler.”

Previous || Next

–From Sampey’s Memoirs