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The article discusses the relationship of Catholics and of the Catholic Church in the Rheinhessen (Rhenish Hesse) region of Germany to National Socialism during the Nazi dictatorship in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. In particular, the author focuses on the attitudes of Albert Stohr, the bishop of Mainz, Germany, toward the Nazi regime. Issues considered include the question whether Catholicism offered a certain immunity to Nazi ideology, Stohr's relationship with the Nazi governor of the state of Hesse-Nassau, Jakob Sprenger, and Stohr's opposition to the Nazi persecution of Jews.

The article discusses an unsent letter by Albert Stohr, the Archbishop of Mainz, Germany, to the German Ministry of the Interior, dated August 10, 1943. The authors outline Stohr's opposition to National Socialism, to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Germany, and in particular to Nazi policies against interfaith marriages between Jews and Christians. A critical, annotated edition of the letter, discovered at the Dom- und Diözesanarchiv (Cathedral and Diocesan Archives) in Mainz, is provided in an appendix.

The article reports on a conference about the anti-Nazi movement in the Rhineland, Germany, in the 1930s and 1940s, which was held in Bonn, Germany, from September 26-27, 2011. Papers presented discussed opposition and resistance to the Nazi dictatorship by various groups, including Communists and Catholics. The repression of political dissent by police and the justice system was also addressed.