Jewish Affairs - South African Jewish Board of Deputies

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012EUGENIO PACELLI (POPE PIUS XII): WAS HECOMPLICIT IN THE HOLOCAUST (Part I)?*Leon ReichMy motivation in penning this paper was themuch-publicized debate regarding the proposedbeatification of Eugenio Pacelli, who becamePope Pius XII.As a Jew, I have been fascinated by thedevelopment of the Christian religion as anoffshoot of Judaism. If one deducts monotheism,the Ten Commandments and what Christians callthe Old Testament, from the Christian ethos, whatreally is left of Christianity? What is left of theconcept of Jesus Christ as the Messiah withoutthe Prophesy of Isaiah? An isolated concept ofChrist as the Messiah without the Jewish contentsupporting it, cannot stand. I have been equallyfascinated by the pivotal role which the Churchplayed on the canvas of history over its twomillennia existence.Running parallel with the teaching orders ofthe Church and the contribution to knowledgeand education are the medical services throughthe nursing orders, particularly during the DarkAges from the 4 th to 11 th Centuries CE. Alongsidethese achievements, however, has been thepersecution of, amongst others, the Jewish people,upon whose philosophy rests Christianity’s veryfoundations.Throughout this process of impressivecontribution to humanity on the one hand and thehorrific persecution of non-believers on the otherthere have been immensely courageous individualdissidents standing out above the crowd.Throughout the ages, these unsung heroes riskedexclusion for themselves and their families fromtheir communities, even enduring suffering ordeath. For them the pursuit of justice, truth andtheir own integrity was more precious than lifeitself.This fierce intellectual honesty and powerfuldedication to their own integrity is what hasdriven the hundreds of thousands of RomanCatholics and others who have saved Jews, oftenat the risk of their own lives. High upon thisladder of distinction is the scholar and writer JohnCornwell, author of the book Hitler’s Pope: TheSecret History of Pius XII (1999). It is from thisstudy of Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Pacelli, thatLeon Reich is a Johannesburg businessman witha long record of Jewish communal service. Apopular speaker on Jewish communal platforms,he has served on the Executive of the SA ZionistFederation and was for many years President ofthe Grahamstown Hebrew Congregation.I have sourced the bulk of my information for thispaper. Other sources used include SolomonGrayzel’s A History of the Jews, The MoralReckoning (Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, 2002), TheRighteous (Martin Gilbert, 2002), Italians andthe Holocaust (Susan Zuccotti, 1987), History ofthe Holocaust (Yehuda Bauer, 2002) and TheMyth of Hitler’s Pope: How Pope Pius XII RescuedJews from the Nazis (Rabbi David G. Dalin,2005).The Roman Catholic Church is comparable toSodom and Gomorrah for the Jewish people. Thecourageous Catholics, who risked their lives tosave Jews, represent the Ten Holy Men who (hadthey been found) would have saved those cities.Over the centuries, the individual Catholic heroeswho swam against the stream of the majorityredeemed the good name and the integrity of theRoman Catholic Church.Under normal circumstances, I would neverconcern myself with whom the Vatican chose tobeatify. These however, are abnormalcircumstances. The reason, as will be argued, isthat Eugenio Pacelli personally bore a great dealof responsibility for the commencement of WorldWar I. He also bore responsibility for the demiseof the Centre Party in Germany and the crushingof its media which influenced German attitudes,resulting in Germany becoming a dictatorship. 1Pacelli figuratively moved heaven and earth tosecure Hitler’s accession, even while knowingthat once he became a dictator, he would pursuehis antisemitic policy as reflected in Mein Kampf.For that reason alone, he shared responsibility forthe Holocaust, and it is important for all who seekthe truth about his role to clearly understand this.Pacelli is consistently accused of not tryinghard enough to save Jewish lives during WorldWar II. My belief is that this is so, but I would gofurther and assert that without Pacelli’sinterventions, in the face of advice to actdifferently, both World Wars would not havetaken place at all.If the Catholic Church were to beatify Pacelli,it would signify its association with his nefariouscontribution to human suffering. To my mind,both he and Hitler (himself Catholic-born) werepsychopaths. Both manipulated millions of people,which led to untold suffering, in pursuance oftheir objectives. There is one difference however:Hitler was far cleverer than Pacelli - a smarterpsychopath. He waited until the back of theCatholic Church was completely broken before31