Were Latter-day Saints Nazis? Secret Files Revealed | Informed Saints
Were Latter-day Saints Nazis? Secret Files Revealed | Informed Saints  
Podcast: Informed Saints
Published On: Sun Oct 12 2025
Description: Did the Church “support” the Nazi regime—or were members just trying to survive? In this episode, Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot unpack Nazi secret police files, surveillance reports, banned books, arrests, and a high-level memo stating that Latter-day Saint doctrine is incompatible with National Socialism.   We also add context to the infamous Heber J. Grant photo and highlight the story of Helmut Hübener. What you’ll learn • How minorities navigated “three doors”: resistance, collaboration, or neutrality • What Nazi reports say about Latter-day Saint beliefs and behavior • Why some local leaders tried to “play nice”—and why the regime still distrusted the Church • The reality behind viral claims and photos   Here are some of the resources discussed in the episode as well as other valuable resources on this topic! https://mormonr.org/qnas/aA2rfb/latter_day_saints_and_nazi_germany https://rsc.byu.edu/book/harms-way https://rsc.byu.edu/book/under-gun https://rsc.byu.edu/firm-foundation/succession-german-mission-leadership-during-world-war-ii https://ensignpeakfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/German-and-Austrian-Latter-day-Saints-in-World-War-II-An-Analysis-of-the-Casualties-and-Losses.pdf https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/helmuth-hubener?lang=eng https://rsc.byu.edu/regional-studies-latter-day-saint-church-history-europe/deliverer-oppressor https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/sbi/issues/024.pdf https://www.jstor.org/stable/23286361 https://archive.org/details/whentruthwastrea0000unse   If this helped clarify a tough topic, like, comment, and subscribe for more faith-and-scholarship conversations. #LDS #InformedSaints #History #NaziGermany #HelmutHubener Chapters (00:00:00) - Were Latter Day Saints Nazis?(00:01:46) - Mormon Nazis New Book Uncovers LDS Support for the Third(00:03:04) - Mormons in Germany under the Nazis(00:05:15) - Jehovah's Witnesses: The 3 Doors(00:10:48) - The Nazis Had a dossier on the Mormons in Nazi Germany(00:16:04) - What else Were the Nazis Doing? They Were Banning Mormon Literature(00:19:37) - The Problem of Pro-State Propaganda(00:24:12) - Latter Day Saints and the Nazi Party(00:26:02) - What Do the Nazis Think of The Mormons?(00:30:49) - Mormons in Germany: Were They Pro-Nazi?(00:35:25) - Heber J. Grant in front of the Nazi Flag(00:37:32) - David Conley on Moroni and the Swastika(00:41:21) - Was Latter Day Saint Church Ball a Tool of the Nazi regime?(00:46:24) - Latter Day Saints in Nazi Germany