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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums‘Hitler’s Pope’ Revealed As A Secret Friend To Holocaust Victims
By Dalya Alberge, The Observer
Saturday, February 9, 2013 10:25 EST
Pope Pius XII helped Jewish refugees to hide from the Nazis, claims new book
Pius XII has long been vilified as Hitlers pope, accused of failing publicly to condemn the genocide of Europes Jews. Now a British author has unearthed extensive material that Vatican insiders believe will restore his reputation, revealing the part that he played in saving lives and opposing nazism. Gordon Thomas, a Protestant, was given access to previously unpublished Vatican documents and tracked down victims, priests and others who had not told their stories before.
The Popes Jews, which will be published next month, details how Pius gave his blessing to the establishment of safe houses in the Vatican and Europes convents and monasteries. He oversaw a secret operation with code names and fake documents for priests who risked their lives to shelter Jews, some of whom were even made Vatican subjects.
Thomas shows, for example, that priests were instructed to issue baptism certificates to hundreds of Jews hidden in Genoa, Rome and elsewhere in Italy. More than 2,000 Jews in Hungary were given fabricated Vatican documents identifying them as Catholics and a network saved German Jews by bringing them to Rome. The pope appointed a priest with extensive funds with which to provide food, clothing and medicine. More than 4,000 Jews were hidden in convents and monasteries across Italy.
During and immediately after the war, the pope was considered a Jewish saviour. Jewish leaders such as Jerusalems chief rabbi in 1944 said the people of Israel would never forget what he and his delegates are doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters at the most tragic hour. Jewish newspapers in Britain and America echoed that praise, and Hitler branded him a Jew lover.
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/09/hitlers-pope-revealed-as-a-secret-friend-to-holocaust-victims/
Kingofalldems
(38,475 posts)hfojvt
(37,573 posts)If he had PUBLICLY resisted and defied their earthly power, even if it cost him his own life - that probably would have had a larger impact.
rugger1869
(106 posts)Much better that he die at the hands of the Nazis on principle than to actually do something.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)many catholics in Germany and Austria willingly supported the Nazis. Even long after the war, the movie "The diary of Anne Frank" was not popular in Catholic Austria. A public stand would have set an example for the whole church. Look at many of the Saints of the Catholic church. Many of them are honored because they gave their lives because they spoke truth to power. Including, Peter, whose chair the Pope claims to occupy.
Ian David
(69,059 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)malaise
(269,157 posts)These folks always reinvent their goons