Pius XII and the Holocaust: A Reader - Taschenbuch

This anthology was the first book this reviewer read regarding Pope Pius VII the Vatican's relations with National Socialist Germany during the rise and fall of the Hitler Regime. While PIUS XII AND THE HOLOCAUST is a small book, it is a good introduction vindicating Pope Pius XII as a courageous man and tireless Pontiff during dark times in European History. The one asset of this book is that it will help readers to further investigate Pope Pius XII' character and couragte. The first essay in this book, written by Father A. Graham, S.J., presents the reader with the seeds of distortions and attempts to smear Pope Pius XII. Father Graham gives precise details that Vatican officials assisted refugees both in Italy and other parts of Europe. Such help was extended to Jewish refugees as a matter of policy and not as an afterthought. In other words, papal assitance to Jews was a deliberate policy which the "Smear Bund" has tried to conceal from public knowledge. The second essay, written by Dr. Lichten who is Jewish and Father Graham, destroys the nonsense of the play tiled THE DEPUTY written by Rolf Hochhuth. This play was first staged in 1963 and was hailed by the establishement types who were too lazy to do any research or thinking. One should be aware that during the 1930s and 1940s, Rolf Hochhuth was a member of the National Socialist Party. This inconvenient fact was conveniently ignored by second rate Catholic writers and those who have unjustly smeared Pope Pius XII. A good example of Jewish acknowledgement of Pope Pius XII's charity and help to Jewish people cited on pages 33-34 whereby Rabbi Safran, a Hungarian rabbi, expressed his gratitude to Pope Pius XII. Again, such acknowledgement is omitted by those who should know better. Further acknowledgement is cited on page 39. What may surprise readers is that Pope Pius VII's efforts extended well into Eastern Europe.