MONROE — The Green County Genealogical Society will hold its monthly meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 2 at the Monroe Public Library.

The program, “The Church in Hitler’s Germany”, will be presented by Mark Peterson of Highland Community College. This presentation takes a close look at the Protestant and Catholic Church during and after the rise of Adolph Hitler to power, from 1933 to 1945. It investigates German Nationalism, the position of the church in Germany before and including the Great War and during the Weimar Republic, which preceded Hitler. It investigates the tactics used by the Nazis to reduce the impact of the Church on German people.

Mark Peterson is a native of Northern Illinois and served in the US Navy for 6 years. He achieved a master’s degree in History at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He has many teaching experiences including Math at Northwestern Military and Naval Academy in Lake Geneva, HVAC and Building Automation for Barber-Colman for 17 years, VFDs for Danfoss Drives, a Danish company just north of the German border. He took a total of 10 trips to Europe. He taught “Historical Methods” for Concordia University Wisconsin in Beloit for 12 years. Currently Mark is teaching at Lifelong Learning for Highland Community College in Freeport.

The meeting will be held in the second-floor meeting room of the Monroe Public Library. Visitors are welcome and there is no cost to attend. For more information, call Ginny at 608-426-1796 or Donna at 608-921-1537. The GCGS Research Center (located in the lower level of the Monroe Public Library) is available to the public for research each Tuesday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Other times are available by appointment by calling 608-328-7436 on Tuesday or Bill at 608-325-2990.