Book Review: The Pope and the Holocaust by Michael Hesemann

The Pope and the Holocaust: Pius XII and the Vatican Secret Archives by Michael Hesemann

Gaining access to thousands of records released in the early 2000s in the Vatican Secret Archives (now renamed the Vatican Apostolic Archives), Michael Hesemann sets the record straight about Pope Pius XII and actions or seeming inactions during World War II. Just after the war, Pius was lionized by the Jewish community for his efforts to protect European Jews from the wrath of the Nazis. In 1963, the German play The Deputy accused Pius XII of indifference toward the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis. Even though the play was discredited, the myth grew up that the pope did nothing for Jews during the Holocaust.

This book is a meticulous reconstruction of what happened during World War II as the Vatican was under the lesser thumb of Mussolini, and then occupied by the Germans in the last year of the war. The records corroborate the initial post-war impression of what Pius did--he worked hard, but often behind the scenes, to keep Jews from being deported to Eastern Europe, even before the Final Solution became known outside of Nazi circles. Kristallnacht and other pogroms in various countries showed the Nazis were ready, willing, and able to oppress and remove Jews from society by any means they dared to use. While German troops were successful on the battlefield, Hitler had more or less carte blanche to do what he wanted in the homeland and the occupied territories. The Pope used delicate tactics to condemn their racist actions without increasing their furor and potentially making the situation worse. An outright denunciation could be depicted by the Nazis as wartime propaganda. The pope was in touch with several German military leaders who were interested in a coup if they could get support in ending the war. The pope was an ostensibly neutral figure who could communicate with both sides and help bring about peace. In the meantime, Pius asked various countries to provide asylum for Jews willing to leave. He also asked various religious houses (monasteries, convents, schools, etc.) to provide hiding places for Jews who could not escape. In addition to the 8000 Jews living in Rome, many refugees from other European countries had come to Italy where Mussolini did not enforce the "racial purity" laws that Hitler demanded. The overall situation was complicated, with many different facets that needed attention.

While scholarly, this book reads more like a narrative of what happened than an extended argument. The author provides photographs of many documents from the Archive along with translations and explanations of their impact on the situation. I learned a lot from the book and recommend it for a look at the Vatican's actions (and the Catholic Church in general) during World War II.

Highly recommended.