As a University Professor with a specialty in Philosophy, Titus Brandsma would have been acutely aware of the ideas and propaganda circulating in neighbouring Germany during the 1930’s. The Nazi party promoted a broad spectrum of basic principles which enshrined raw power and violence, especially at the expense of the weak. One can only rise to the top of a struggle by stepping on those inferior people below. In such a mindset, Christianity was ridiculed for its care and attention to the poor, sick, elderly, and handicapped.