Introduction
World War II started in September 1939 and ended in September 1945 killing almost 62 million people. It was the most widespread war in history. It involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel. Out of these 70 million, almost 11 million were the victims of the Holocaust and almost 6 million of these were Jews (Solar Navigator, n.p).
During the Holocaust, the Jews were crammed and transported to ‘Death Camps’ where they were given little food and diseases were common. Jews who survived this exhaustion and diseases were either shot or killed by gassing. In 1939 there were almost 7 million Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. About five million of these were killed including three million in Poland and one million in the Soviet Union. Not one organization or community, nor social neither scholarly nor religious came forward to help and speak for the Jews but the Jews had some hope left, that the Catholic Church and Pope Pius XII will help them (Abel et al, n.p).
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII was the head of Vatican City and the Roman Catholic Church. During this time (1939 till October 1958) it was said that his views could influence almost 400 million Catholics as he was also the Bishop of Rome and was in direct contact with all other bishops. His real name was Eugenio Pacelli. His actions during the world war and the Holocaust were always controversial. His actions relating to Hitler were also controversial. Hitler gave freedom of practice to the Catholics but separated religion from politics, to which the Pope agreed. A lot of people condemned this action of Pope’s saying he was on Hitler’s side but some actions of the Pope proved otherwise. On April 28th, he talked to 250,000 pilgrims and said that it does not matter if the Nazis call this Brutal killing of innocent Jews a social revolution. It will still be genocide. It is nothing but murder of humans based on religion (Schoenberg, n.p).
The question is did the Pope helped Jews or did he not?
Righteous gentiles
Some People believe that the Pope had done a lot to save the Jews and yet he is not given credit for what he did. Critics believe that all of this about Pope Pius XII just standing there indifferent to Jews being killed is all a lie. They think that people who say that the Pope did not help the Jews have any sense of history.
Pope Pius was always against the Nazis even before the war started. In April 1935, when the war had not begun Pacelli (as he was not Pope back then) spoke to 250,000 people in Lourdes, France. As said before he condemned the Nazis saying that they were miserable plagiarists and said that it does not matter what Nazis believe because whatever they believe is wrong, you cannot kill somebody based on his religion ”(Graham, p. 106).
After this, he sent various notes to Berlin protesting about Nazis policies. By this time he had already become an enemy of the Nazis thought he was the Vatican secretary at that time. The Germans never wanted Pius XII to become the Pope. When Pius XI died in 1939, the Germans already detested Pacelli and did not want him to become the Pope.
A Polish Jew who was a Diplomat writes that the Pope has spoken so much about the Nazis, but not in good words that now he cannot keep a low profile. Hitler’s army now thinks that he is against them. He also wrote that though Pacelli had served the government for quite some time now, Nazis think that if he becomes the Pope (it was before Pacelli became Pope), he will never be on their side (Lichten, p. 107).
Between 1917 and 1929 Pope Pius XII made almost forty-four speeches on German soil, out of these at least forty of his speeches condemned Nazis. The Pope has saved many Jewish lives. He worked secretly to save the Jews from getting murdered by Hitler’s army. Though Hitler tried to pursue the Pope to not work against the Nazis, the Pope denied it and instead listed him all the crimes he had done. Archbishop of Utrecht, like Pope Pius XII, had also condemned Nazi’s policies. When the Dutch Jews were being sent to extermination camps, the Archbishop started protesting. Hitler’s army warned him and asked him not to protest but he did not listen. The Nazis retaliated started killing all the Jews from Holland. A famous Jew philosopher, Edith Stein was also killed. This was the consequence of the hatred Archbishop showed. What happened? Yet more innocent civilians were sent to death. This is the reason Pope Pius XII did not speak out so strongly against the Nazis but instead helped and saved the Jews quietly and secretly in the background. This silence of Pope Pius XII resulted in people believing that he did not want to help and that he did not care but the Pope remained indifferent to what people said and did what he had to do. Pope Pius XII saved a Jewish couple by helping them escape from an extermination camp and bringing them to Spain with him. The couple later stated that they never wanted the Pope to come out in the open and state that he was against the Nazis because then he will become the center of attention and to help Jews the Pope has to make sure that Hitler’s army does not suspect him of helping the Jews. The couple said that they knew why the Pope kept silent and they think he was right (Akin, n.p.).
Countries like the U.S. and Great Britain did not allow any Jews to enter their country. The Pope helped many Jews by issuing them fake documents showing the Jews as Christians so that they can immigrate to these countries. As all the Jews were deprived of their money and properties, the Pope paid millions of dollars to help them. When Nazis invaded Italy, it was too late for some people to emigrate so the Pope started to find places to hide the Jews. He ordered that people in all the religious buildings should help save Jews by giving them a place to hide. The Pope said that people should hide these even at the risk of personal sacrifice. He removed the cloistered rule which was on the monasteries and convents. This rule stopped any outsider from entering the religious place but after the removal of this rule, the same monasteries became an asylum for Jews. Many Jews were at the mercy of the Pope. They were fed, clothed, and kept safe in almost 180 places in the Vatican. Due to Pope’s strong commitment people started to give refuge to them in their private homes also. The site of Pope’s summer residence also had many Jews. The Pope said that it is his responsibility and he will make sure that the children emigrate from the country. The Jews were hidden in not just the church itself but all over the Vatican, every church and basilicas, Church administrative buildings, and parish house were used to hide Jews. When the first mass arrest of Jews was made in 1943, the Pope in an article in the Vatican paper spoke very strongly against the Nazis confiscating the property of Jews. He spoke to such an extent that The Fascist press called him “a mouthpiece of Jews”. After the war ended it was counted that almost 8,000 Jews were taken from Italy. This number is far less than the numbers of other European countries. He also stopped deportations from other countries. It was found out that almost 800,000 Jews will be deported from Hungary. Pope Pius XII wrote a telegram to Admiral Miklos Horthy, the ruler of Hungary, and helped in stopping these deportations. Everybody noted these endeavors of the Pope. The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Isaac Herzog said to the Pope in one of his messages to him that the Pope will never be forgotten as he has helped our brothers and sisters when they needed him. He also said that the pope will always remain in our hearts (Marchione, n.p.).
Israel Zolli, the Romanian chief said that whatever the Pope did to save the Jews was a remarkable example of bravery and courage and that he will always be remembered. He also said that the Pope served as an Honor to the Catholics (Lichten, n.p).
Zolli later became a catholic and took Pope’s given name “Eugenio” to honor him. He was inspired by the Pope and the work he had done to save the Jews. Similarly, a lot of other Jews wanted to convert to show their gratitude to the Pope as he was the one who stood by them during the war. It was estimated that the Catholic Church alone saved almost 700,000 to 860,000 Jews. This number is larger than what all other organizations including the Jewish themselves had saved.
Hitler and the Vatican
Throughout the Second World War, many people requested the pope to help them, but he remained indifferent. Isaac Herzog in 1940 asked the Pope to help him stop Hitler’s army from transporting the Jews to the Extermination camps. The Pope kept silent and did nothing. In 1942, a person working under the pope told him about the Jews who were being moved to death camps. Again there was no response from the Pope. The Assistant Chief of the U.S delegation to the Vatican, Harold Titman reported to the Pope about the mass killings. He asked the Pope to say something about it to condemn and show the Nazis that they were doing wrong. The Pope replied that he wanted to be Neutral. How can he be neutral to such mass killing and brutal terminations? How can he keep silent, when he could influence more than 400 million people? Almost 200,000 Ukrainian Jews were reported dead in August 1942. The Ukrainian Metropolitan Andrej Septyckyj wrote a letter to the Pope telling about the Nazis and how they were killing every Jew, how their government had nothing but corruption. The gut-wrenching stories of how people were killed by brutal techniques, and how they were dissected and experimented upon as they were guinea pigs, would have made anybody sympathize with them, but the Pope replied by saying,” bear adversity with serene patience” (Gilbert, p. 40).
In September 1942 Giovanni Battista Montini wrote to the Pope. He said that the killings and massacre of Jews have reached such huge proportions that it is frightening. He also wrote that the Pope should do something about it. In the same month, U.S. representative to the Vatican, Myron Taylor wrote to the Pope also. He said that the Pope’s silence shows what kind of moral values he has. To this, the Pope made the secretary of state reply on his behalf by saying that all of this was just rumors and it was impossible to verify them. Bishop of Berlin and President of Poland had written to Pope Pius XII quite a few times. They asked the Pope to announce publicly about Nazi’s violence and brutal killings. He refused to do so. The Allied government issued orders saying that anybody who helps in the extermination of Jews will be punished. Many people said that the Pope could have done the same to help the Jews. Finally, an answer came. The Pope said that he could not announce Hitler’s Brutal acts publicly because for this he will have to include the communists also and this is the reason he can only condemn these killings but take no action. In January 1940 almost 15,000 Polish civilians were killed by the Nazis. The Pope hearing this said in a broadcast that there are eyewitnesses who have told and proved how Hitler’s army had brutally killed homeless and helpless people (Gilbert, p. 40). The Pope did not mention Jews. He just said that the Nazis were in just and were killing people based on their religion, nation or race “(Gutman, p. 1137). Though he had condemned Nazi’s violence in a very mild manner he did not mention Jews.
In 1941 French Marshal Henri Philippe Petain asked the Pope if he condemned these anti-Jewish laws, to this, the Pope replied that the church has always condemned racism but will not condemn every rule against Jews. This shows the indifferent attitude of the Pope. He said that as long as any legislation does not conflict with the catholic teachings of charity and justice, it is okay to carry it out. In a radio broadcast of 1940, he said that one cannot be neutral if moral values were involved in a situation. As he was neutral in the case of mass murder of Jews, we can only imply that according to him killing Jews was not a moral issue (Gutman, 1137).
Nazis invaded Italy in September 1943. All of Italy including the Vatican came under Hitler’s rule. Nazis threatened the Jews that if they did not come up with 50 kilograms of gold they will take 300 hostages. These hostages would be Jews. The church was willing to loan 15 kilograms but it became pointless as the Nazis extended the deadline (Israel Pocket Library, 133).
Pope Pius XII knew about those Jewish who were supposed to get deported but he remained silent and did not announce anything publicly, though he asked the catholic institutions silently to take in some Jews. The Vatican itself gave place to almost 477 Jews. Almost 4,238 Jews were placed in Roman monasteries and convents to protect them.
On October 16, Almost 1,007 Jews were captured. Most of these were women and children. Only sixteen of them survived. Most of them were gassed and the others were sent to prison camps.
Dave Hunt wrote in one of his books that the Pope had no excuse for remaining silent while the Nazis killed thousands and thousands of innocent people based on their religion. He also said that the Pope was paid by Hitler’s government to keep silent (Hunt, p. 284).
Jack Chick who is also a writer said that the Pope was a big coward because when the war ended and he saw Hitler losing, he immediately said that he was not on his side but he was always on his side and in one way or the other was helping him kill all those innocent people. Chick also wrote that the Pope should be punished for his crimes (Chick, p. 45).
Conclusion
Many people have commented on the Pope’s behavior and actions during the Second World War and the Holocaust. The President of the World Jewish Congress said that the Pope will always be remembered as he has helped the Jews in one of the biggest genocidal killings of the entire history. Albert Einstein, who is probably the most well-known Jewish figure said that In the days of the Holocaust nobody came forward and protested, it was the Pope and the Vatican church who condemned Hitler’s army and showed that they hated him. Einstein also said that he admires the Vatican church for what it has done to help the Jews (Sobran. n.p).
Safran, who was a Roman leader said that the Pope has done so much for the suffering Jews, that he cannot find the word to show his gratitude. He said that the Romanian Jews will never forget the Pope and the fact that he helped them during the Holocaust (Marchione, p. 77).
After Zolli had become catholic, the Romanian chief said that they now have the opportunity to show how grateful they were for the Pope. He said this as a lot of people were becoming Catholics to thank the Pope “(Barton, n.p.).
In his 1963 monograph, Dr. Joseph Lichten, head of the Intercultural Affairs Department of the Anti-Defamation League said that people have no solid proof against the Pope and that they were just accusing him of sins he had never done. He also said that the only mistake the Pope made was not announcing publicly Nazis violence (Marchione, p. 45).
References
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- Akin, Jimmy. n.d. How Pius XII Protected Jews: Catholic Answers. Web.
- Barton, Daniel Joseph. n.d. Pius XII and Anti-Semitism: Part II.
- Chick, Jack. n.d. Smokescreens. China, California: Chick Publications
- Graham, Robert S.J n.d. Pius XII and the Holocaust ;New Rochelle, New York: Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
- Gutman, Israel, n.d. Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, New York: Macmillan Publishing Company
- Hunt, Dave. n.d. A Woman Rides the Beast. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House
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- Marchione, Margherita. n.d. Pope Pius XII: Architect for Peace. Web.
- Marchione, Margherita.n.d. Did Pope Pius XII help the Jews?
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- Solar Navigator. 2006. World War II. Web.
- Schoenberg, Shira. 2007. Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust; Jewish Virtual Library. Web.