We continue, from part 1, considering the issue of Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—LDS) baptism for the dead such as Adolf Hitler, other Nazis, Communist Regime leaders, Jewish Holocaust victims, etc.
Don McAreavy inquired with the LDS Family History Library regarding whether temple services had been performed for Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. The response from Mae Dean Ashton (Team Leader Photoduplication Unit) was in the negative:
…We searched the International Genealogical Index TM Addendum and found no information listed for either. The enclosed printout is the closest we could find and you will note that birth dates are 1836 and 1838. No additional information is available.
The referenced printout was of LDS “proxy ordinances” as baptism for the dead also included “Alois Hiedler or Heidler (Hitler),” Adolf Hitler father.
Further research uncovered:
IGI (International Genealogical Index) copies reveal that Adolf Hitler was indeed baptized and “endowed” on Dec. 10, 1993, and “sealed” to his parents on March 12, 1994. These events took place in the London Temple, England. Robert’s copies also show that Hitler was “sealed” to Braun on September 28, 1993, in the Jordan River Temple, Utah, and on June 14, 1994, in the Los Angeles Temple.
Yet, the cover up had leaks:
These entries could once be found in the IGI. They have since been deleted, along with other entries for prominent Nazis…But the deletion effort was botched. Some entries were missed, such as the ones still current for Hitler and Braun, in the IGI and Ancestral File…copies of all of the LDS ordinance records for Hitler which are currently in the Ancestral File – but no longer in the IGI.
Note that “the LDS Church agreed to stop posthumous baptisms for Jewish Holocaust victims” and that “Under the agreement, the church removed some 400,000 Jewish names from its International Genealogical Index.”
This is rather odd, in a way, since if Mormons truly believe that they bring salvation to the lost via posthumous baptisms: why would they no longer perform them for Jewish Holocaust victims?
Now, back to the “arguably” issue with which we began as it pertains to whether Hitler, Stalin, et al. will really be in the Mormon heaven(s).
The LDS Family Search Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown Salt Lake City noted:
…we believe that ordinances performed in behalf of any deceased individual are valid only if that person is worthy of and chooses to accept what has been done in his or her behalf.
The Church spends a great deal of time, effort, and money to make information available that helps not only its members, but all who are interested in family history pursuits.Also note that LDS Church spokesman Michael Purdy:
…said any temple work done for them is for naught…“temple ordinance work for these individuals has already been nullified”…“Members of the church have a preeminent obligation to their own ancestors [and] should not submit for temple ordinance work the names of celebrities and non-approved groups”…
submissions for Nazi leaders are deemed inappropriate to a rite originated out of members’ love for, and desire to perform sacred temple rites for, their ancestral dead.In part 3 we will consider these claims and wrap it up.
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