Ulrich Graf
Shortly after the First World War, Graf became a member of the German Workers' Party (DAP). Later, the DAP was renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP; Nazi Party) and taken over by Adolf Hitler. Founded in 1920, the "Sturmabteilung" (SA) was the first of many paramilitary protection squads that worked to protect Nazi officials. These storm troopers, outfitted in brown uniforms, were initially charged with the duty of keeping order at Nazi Party meetings. They soon expanded their role to include disruption of rival political party's functions. Graf was an early member of the SA. In 1921, he became member number 2882 of the Nazi Party.
Religion in Nazi Germany
During the First and Second World Wars, German Protestant leaders used the writings of Luther to support the cause of German nationalism. On the 450th anniversary of Luther's birth, which fell only a few months after the Nazi Party began its seizure of power in 1933, celebrations were conducted on a large scale by both the Protestant Churches and the Nazi Party. At a celebration in Königsberg, Erich Koch, at that time the Gauleiter of East Prussia, made a speech in which he, among other things, compared Adolf Hitler with Martin Luther and claimed that the Nazis fought with Luther's spirit. Such a speech might be dismissed as mere propaganda, but, as Steigmann-Gall points out: "Contemporaries regarded Koch as a bona fide Christian who had attained his position [as the elected president of a provincial Church synod] through a genuine commitment to Protestantism and its institutions." Even so, Steigmann-Gall states that the Nazis were not a Christian movement.