David Mills on Dietrich von Hildebrand and Patriotism

"When the Germans invaded Austria, he was number one on Hitler's list of people he wanted captured and killed. All he'd done was write. He hadn't tried to assassinate Hitler, as the Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer did a few years later. That ticked off Hitler, for understandable reasons.

"The Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand had simply written the most penetrating analysis of the horror of Nazism. He'd had to flee his native Germany in 1933 when the Nazis came to power. He set up next door in Austria and kept at it. From 1934 to 1938 he edited a magazine called Die Christliche Ständestaat or 'the Christian corporative state.' He wrote a stream of anti-Nazi editorials.

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"He didn't vent. He explained. That angered Hitler, because even that wicked man knew the power of truth, and hated it. Hildebrand, he declared, must die. Hildebrand kept writing even with a price on his head. He and his wife barely got out of Austria when the German army swept in."

In a recent commentary, writer David Mills reflected on Dietrich von Hildebrand's thoughts on patriotism, including what patriotism is and what it is not and how it elevates the individual.

To access Mr. Mill's complete post, please visit:

Aleteia: David Mills: 5 Insights on patriotism from an anti-Nazi hero (4 JUL 18)