NOTES FROM HISTORY
Pius refused to use the word "Jew" during most public comminiques in the Shoah.4 I. At the beginning of the war, the
Jews of Rome were promised protection by Pius, even ransom in a loan if required for their safety. In October 1943, the Jews were gathered by the Nazis, and Rome said nothing, betraying an earlier trust; The explanation given in a letter to a Cardinal was that the Pope was afraid of Nazi retaliation.
II. While able to intervene in German politics, when Germany oppressed and invaded Poland, even after the Catholic poles requested the Vatican's assistance, Pius remained silent
III. Pius knew that officials of the Roman Church were hiding Nazi War Criminals in Rome at the end of the War. His reasoning for non-intervention was that the Nazis would continue their work against Communism in other places in the World after the War.3 This was also presumably the reason for aiding in Nazi entry into largely Catholic Countries such as Argentina and Brazil
IV. Communiques indicate that the US and Britain may also have colluded with the Pope in aiding Nazi expatriation given the above reason.
V. Pius sought clemency "for Arthur Grieser "who had who had murdered thousands of Polish Catholics and Jews (the Poles executed him anyway); and for Otto Ohlendorf, head of one of the notorious Nazi mobile killing squads (U.S. Military Governor General Lucius Clay rejected the pope's appeal, saying that Ohlendorf was guilty of specific, heinous crimes); and for other mass murderers."1-3
VI. Pius failed to report Nazi war criminals in Rome after the War.
VII. Pius & the Vatican later failed to report Nazi Fascists' Gold holdings from Yugoslavia in restitution hearings. |
The Pope of A Distant Silence When one speaks of Piusone may get the impression one is speaking of two different people. The Pius supporters plead for his canonization as a Saint in the Catholic Church, while the more concerned historians, site his betrayal of the Jews of Rome and his aid of Nazi War Criminals at the end of the War. While Pius may not have been a viscious anti-semite, as some suggest, his role as a historical politician cannot be denied. While the heart of any man, much less the Pope cannot be utterly known, this much can be said in sum: Pius earlier in the War extended condolences and sympathy for the cause of the Jews of Europe in writings and communications, even promising to facilitate loans to the Jews in the event of Nazi occupation of Rome, but as the war progressed, the actions of the Vatican under his guidance were either of non-interference on behalf of the Jews, or direct and clandestine aid to the German war effort. The Jews of Rome expected the aid of the Vatican when they were rounded up for deportation. They had the word, they were sure, of Vatican aid. Instead, as the hour of deportation drew near, no help, no loans, and even no word came from the Office of the Holy See who had promised that the Jews of Rome would not be taken.
A Biography of Pius
Pacelli and the Concordat
Pius's View of the Papacy
The early part of the twentieth century and the latter part of the 19th saw a firm stand of the Papacy on
traditional Catholic doctrine and policy. Pius XII had been the Secretary to Pius XI, and had grown in reknown as a worldwide diplomat. His diplomacy skills though, while well known, were not as likely to win him total support in the Vatican: when Pius XI died in 1939, he was seen by most as the sure wager for the next pope, but over a dozen members of the Curia abstained from his support. Hebbelwaite notes that part of the reason for this is that while many applauded his diplomacy many, still of older traditions were looking for a more stalwart candidate. The war had already begun in Europe and Pius XII hailed from offices in Bavaria and Berlin, though he was Italian, and had already discussed with Cardinal Faulhaber the necessity of letting him [Pacelli (Pius XII) take care of the "German Question".
The Pope Who Wanted to Please Everyone
The Great Vatican Abandon To be continued.
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