Dictionary of Genocide - D Ank Unlimited

CARTHAGO DELENDA EST!
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delendam! (“I declare that Carthage must be destroyed!”). By 146 BCE, that rallying cry
had become a reality. A story spread that the Romans even salted the earth around the
city so as to ensure no possibility of a Carthaginian revival; although believed by many for
generations, the story has not been proven beyond doubt. The destruction of Carthage,
though a confirmed reality, has led to debates among historians regarding the charge of
genocide. Although for many the city’s fate as a victim of genocide is obvious (especially
given the fact that the survivors of the city were deliberately split up and dispersed
throughout the empire so that all traces of a distinct Carthaginian identity would disappear
after a few generations), for others the destruction of Carthage was a military issue
in which the victims were casualties of war as practiced at that time—and not the targets
of a genocide as it is understood today.
Carthago delenda est! (Latin, Carthage is destroyed!). A Latin term frequently
attributed, wrongly, to the Roman statesman Cato the Elder (234–149 BCE), in relation
to the destruction by Rome of the Carthaginian Empire at the end of the Third Punic War
(149–146 BCE). The bitterness created in Rome by the first two Punic Wars (264–241
BCE and 218–202 BCE) was so intense that Cato was moved, on every occasion in which
he spoke to the Senate, to end with the words “Ceteram censeo Carthaginem esse delendam!”
(I declare that Carthage must be destroyed!). Convinced that the security of Rome
depended on the annihilation of Carthage, he used every opportunity to sound the tocsin
about the Carthaginian threat and repeated his message whenever he could. By 146 BCE,
his rallying cry had become a reality, as the Romans defeated Carthage, invaded the city,
and put the population to the sword. Throughout the centuries, Cato’s message has been
corrupted to read, “Carthago delenda est,” which translates as “Carthage is destroyed.” This,
however, is an incorrect rendering of the original, as his entreaty was always intended to
be a call to action, rather than a triumphant proclamation.
Catholic Church, and the Holocaust. There is, perhaps, no more complicated and
contentious issue surrounding the Holocaust than the role of the Roman Catholic Church
during the years associated with World War II (1939–1945); its role immediately preceding
the war (1933–1939), paralleling Adolf Hitler’s rise to power; or its papal leadership,
specifically Pope Pius XI (Achille Ratti, 1857–1939) and Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli,
1876–1958). Questions include the following: (1) How much or how little did the
Church know about the attempted extermination of European Jewry? (2) What could the
Church, including its leadership, have done with that knowledge? (3) How much or how
little did the Church do to save Europe’s Jews? (4) How forcefully, both publicly and privately,
did the popes address the fate of the Jews? (5) After World War II, did the Church
play a significant role in aiding Nazis to escape punishment by arranging or assisting in
their safe passage out of Europe? (6) What role did the historical religious-theological
antisemitism of Christianity play in the decision-making process of the Church? These
and other questions remain subject to continuous scrutiny and scholarly investigation; no
definitive conclusions have thus far been reached. In 1933 the Vatican under Pius XI signed
a concordat with Nazi Germany, supportive of the new regime and seemingly acknowledging
its national emphases. The Catholic secretary of state at the time was Cardinal Pacelli,
who would later become pope. Different in temperament from his predecessor, Pope
Benedict XV (1914–1922), who, in 1938, said publicly, “Antisemitism is inadmissible. We
are all spiritually Semites,” Pacelli was shy by nature, committed to the survival and protection
of the institutional Roman Catholic Church, isolated from contact with both the