Because of the collected works of Bonhoeffer, we now know what the charges were that led to his imprisonment. We have a summary of the court proceedings. There is no mention of any attempts on Hitler’s life. Instead, the central issue for the judge in Bonhoeffer’s case is that he was effectively living out the life of a conscientious objector to Germany’s war through his work with the Abwehr.44 That is to say, in September 1943 Bonhoeffer was indicted on charges of avoiding the call-up to military service and thus officially “subverting military power.”45 The court records show that the judge
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