Emma Pherson

Mr. Palcsey

Honors English 10

May 1st, 2018

Church’s Role in World War II

Many stories are still told about the horrors the Jewish culture during World War II. One

that is very famous is the story Anne Frank. This young girl hid in an attic with her family to

hide from the Nazis. She hid from them for years, writing about it in her renowned dairy, until

they were discovered and taken to concentration camps which lead to her death. During the mid

1900s, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and completely changed the views of the

nation, making anti- Semitism a main concern. Most of all, Nazis detested Jews and designed

concentration camps to cause a mass killing of all the Jews (Gaynor 780-781). During World

War II, when Hitler exterminated an enormous, gruesome amount of people, the role of the

catholic church and Pope Pius XII was pivotal and ameliorated with hiding Jews, giving them

false paper and birth certificates claiming them as catholic, and giving them safe passage.

To begin, the conditions in which the Jews were suffering, and the true horrors of the

Holocaust were hidden did not become known to the world until the end of the war and

afterwards. (Gaynor 791) When the Vatican and the catholic church started to see the

discrimination towards the Jews, they wanted to help, but getting involved with the Germans

aims and objectives would result in them turning on the Catholics too. As soon as Pope Pius XII

joined the papacy, he was concerned with the destiny of the Jews in holocaust. He said Hitler

"abandoned the Christ's cross for a swastika”. Although, the is not a nation, so it cannot ally with

anyone against Nazism, especially for the immoral crimes in contradiction of the Jews. (Thomas
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37) Jews and Christians around the Vatican don’t have any complications with each other. They

are linked because they both pray to one God and base their learning and teachings of the Bible.

(Thomas 24) The Pope wanted to remain neutral in the war, so the church would not be turned

on. They were already facing problems with Germany. For example, every country in the

western hemisphere sent a delegate to Pope Pius XII's coronation except Nazi Germany. (Dalin

70) Overall, the church unquestionably had obstacles to intrude to the Nazi’s plan during World

War II and did not want that to result in the church becoming the new enemy.

Despite the consequences, the pope and all the church intervened. Throughout his time in

the papacy, Pope Pius XII gave multiple speeches and addressed the situation concerning the

Jewish genocide. For instance, in “Summi Pontificatus”, he said the church believed that much

like the anti-Semitic feelings at the time, this battle was unnecessary and unjustified. (Pius XII

106) In the eighth paragraph of the speech, the Pope talks about the grief it causes him to see so

many people desert from being a "follower of Christ" and "fell victims of cowardice, weakness,

uncertainty" in accordance to the war. He talked directly about the Jews suffering in this war and

how the heart of the church is torn. The church did not want the war to happen and had efforts to

prevent it from happening. They may have even taken secret efforts that have not been exhibited

in public. Love is the foundation of the kingdom of Christ. The pope said the victims of the

holocaust need compassion and help. He tried to spread the word out about the Jews by putting

such a big emphasis in his speech about help. Also alluding to the war, the pope says that what

happened is still happening and has not stopped but needs to be stopped. The church looks with

great sorrow on what is happening. The church shows compassion for the Jews. (“Summi

Pontificatus”) The pope talks about the warnings they gave out about not starting the genocide,
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but clearly, people did not listen and now the church is trying to promote the Christian way with

education to support it to defend the Jews. (“Summi Pontificatus”)

Another speech Pope Pius gave was “Mystici Corporis Christ”. In this speech, he makes

reference to the deformed, mentally ill, senile, and handicapped in the context of what was going

on in the holocaust at that time and talks about the bond of brotherhood with races. The pope

draws a picture showing that all races are equal in the eyes of God and therefore should be on

Earth. He continues this in the 94th paragraph by talking more about equality and how people are

all "brethren" and how everyone will avoid more errors with piety and understanding, directly

relating this to what Hitler was doing at the time and how it was unjust. People did not hesitate to

betray Jesus on the cross and people still today sin and don’t hesitate, talking about the killings

of Jews and not hesitating to kill them. This is a biblical allusion to the cross, more specifically

the "evil hands" that were on Jesus. (“Mystici Corporis Christi”)

"Communium Interpretes Dolorum" was an additional discourse on taking initiative on

the genocide. In 1945, during the finishing months of the war, the pope sums up that a lot of

unneeded tears and blood was shed and the fighting and killing needs to be terminated as soon as

possible so recovery with God can start. People need to adhere to the Wisdom of God for justice

and equality or this will "bear seeds for future wars". The encouragement of the church, urging

Germany to stop what they were doing, talking about praying for the Jews in captivity, and

noting that their homes are gone showed how the church took efforts to talk about the Jews and

how their problem is very significant and imperative in the world. (“Communium Interpretes

Dolorum”).
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In addition to trying to spread the word about the Jews, the catholic church, especially the

nuns, hid Jewish children in monasteries and in Vatican City. The nuns did everything in the

convents like the domestic work and moving beds from up and down to the cellar, so no

Germans would see if they were checked. The nuns educated the children when they came to the

convents about basic school subjects and about religion. After the girls got older they gave them

small sums for clothing and taught them how to do domestic things like sew, clean, and cook.

(Vromen 74) After these Jews hid in the Catholic convents and monasteries and heard the word

of god they were adapted to the Christian religion. They started to fulfill their religious needs by

calling themselves Judeo-Christians and brining the two religions together. (Vromen 45). The

nuns did everything to feed the children but there were food shortages, especially when they

were hiding lots of Jews. They ate the same food every day. The nuns acted as mothers to these

children. Also, Professor Chaïm Perelam, one of the founding members of the Committee for the

Defense of Jews, and his wife, Fela Liwer- Perelam, who set up Jewish elementary schools when

Jews were expelled from the public ones. (Vromen 92) The church had many efforts to help the

Jews.

Lastly, the pope had efforts to hide Jews within the Vatican City walls. Most of the Jews

of Rome took shelter in the Vatican. Food halls were in the Apostolic Palace. A large portion of

the Jews were hidden in the pope’s summer place at Castel Gandolfo. All space in that home was

being used and was bursting of Jews. (Thomas 108) Then, in 1943, Pope Pius left the Vatican to

visit the bombed areas. After this, Vatican trucks delivered food to convents and monasteries

where Jews and Allied prisoners were taken in. A vital part of this was Monsignor alfredo

Ottaviani, head of Holy Office, and part of the secret organization to help escaped prisoners of
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the war. (Thomas 109) The pope then sent out a Christmas message as an attack on the Nazis.

Pope Pius's message was not very strong although he "walked along a very fine line", almost

publically condemning Hitler's regime. This almost caused the whole third Reich to have a

widespread retaliation. Also, Dr. Vittorio Saerdoti, a Fatebenefratelli doctor, claimed that Jews

had a made-up illness called "K-syndrome" so he could quarantine them and get them to safety.

He worked with the Vatican to ensure safety for these people. (Thomas 108-109) Just like any

good host, the pope wanted his Jewish guests at the Vatican to be comfortable. He cared for

them, making his gardens into playgrounds for the children and encouraging the older ones to

listen to the radio to watch programs. Pius authorized cardinals to distribute money to struggling

Jews and give out baptismal certificates to protect them. He also gave cardinals copies of the

resolution to the Jewish problem to take back to Germany. (Thomas 139) To help provide the

Jews jobs and money, he gave Jews who lost their jobs after new anti-Jewish laws came out. For

example, giving professors jobs like restoring and cataloging maps and more jobs in the Vatican

Library. (Dalin 71) On a whole, Pope Pius XII hid Jews in Vatican City, gave them false

paperwork and baptismal certificates claiming they were catholic, and gave them safe passage to

shelters in Rome.

Finally, there were results to the church intervening in the Nazi’s plan to terminate the

Jews. Hitler was against the church when they started to arbitrate. Nazis had a systematic war

against the church. They were sending nuns and priests to concentration camps daily in Poland

for being accused of helping Jews and speaking out against Nazism. (Thomas 116) Also, the

pope's study at Castel Gandolfo was bombed! Germans targeted it because they were suspicious

of the pope hiding Jews after the speeches he made. (Thomas 108) After these Jews hid in the
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Catholic convents and monasteries and heard the word of God they were adapted to the Christian

religion. They started to fulfill their religious needs by calling themselves Judeo-Christians and

brining the two religions together. (Vromen 49) Finally, as the war ended, Jews thanked the pope

for everything he did. Israel Zolli, chief rabbi of Rome, hid his family in the Vatican until the

end of the war. He converted to Catholicism after the war, which created chaos between the

Jews. He changed his name from "Israel" to "Eugeni" after Pope Pius XII. (Thomas 271)

Because of that, clearly, the Pope had an effect on the people he helped.

All in all, during World War II, the catholic church made efforts to help the Jews. This

time was full of lots of anguish and sorrow. The full horrors of the holocaust did not even

become known to the public until after. Although, the catholic church had a foremost role I n

saving Jews’ lives. Rabbi David G. Dalin’s The Myth of Hitler's Pope was written by a rabbi, so

usually this would be bias in a way against the pope, for not helping the Jews or keeping silent.

But a book written by a rabbi that is factual is supporting this thesis even more. This is more

evidence that proves this and shows that these resources are not bias. The church’s role in the

Jewish genocide was positive and helped save many lives. The catholic church wants to promote

peace, ensure safety to everyone on the planet, and cares about everyone’s spiritual afterlives.
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Works Cited

“Communium Interpretes Dolorum,” Communium Interpretes Dolorum (April 15, 1945) | PIUS

XII, http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-

xii_enc_15041945_communium-interpretes-dolorum.html

Dalin, David G. The Myth of Hitler’s Pope. Regnery Pub., 2005.

Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor., World History: Connections to Today. Prentice Hall, 2003.

"Mystici Corporis Christi," Mystici Corporis Christi (June 29, 1943) | PIUS XII,

http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-

xii_enc_29061943_mystici-corporis-christi.html

"Summi Pontificatus,” Summi Pontificatus (October 20, 1939) | PIUS XII,

http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-

xii_enc_20101939_summi-pontificatus.html

Thomas, Gordon. The Pope’s Jews: The Vatican’s Secret Plan to Save Jews from the Nazis.

Robson, 2013.

Vromen, Suzanne. Hidden Children of the Holocaust: Belgian Nuns and Their Daring Rescue of

Young Jews from the Nazis. Oxford University Press, 2010.