Durante el Holocausto , la Iglesia Católica jugó un papel en el rescate de cientos de miles de judíos de ser asesinados por los nazis. Los miembros de la Iglesia, mediante el cabildeo de los funcionarios del Eje , el suministro de documentos falsos y el ocultamiento de personas en monasterios, conventos, escuelas, entre familias y las instituciones del propio Vaticano, salvaron a cientos de miles de judíos. El diplomático e historiador israelí Pinchas Lapide estimó la cifra entre 700.000 y 860.000, aunque la cifra es controvertida. [1]
La propia Iglesia católica se enfrentó a la persecución en la Alemania de Hitler, y la resistencia católica alemana institucional al nazismo se centró en gran medida en la defensa de los propios derechos e instituciones de la Iglesia. La resistencia más amplia tendió a estar fragmentada y dirigida por el esfuerzo individual en Alemania, pero en todos los países bajo ocupación alemana, los sacerdotes jugaron un papel importante en el rescate de judíos. Los judíos que ayudaron se encontraron con una severa pena y muchos rescatistas y aspirantes a rescatadores fueron asesinados, incluidos San Maximiliano Kolbe , Giuseppe Girotti y Bernhard Lichtenberg, que fueron enviados a los campos de concentración .
En el preludio del Holocausto, los Papas Pío XI y Pío XII predicaron contra el racismo y la guerra en encíclicas como Mit brennender Sorge (1937) y Summi Pontificatus (1939). Pío XI condenó a la Kristallnacht y rechazó la afirmación nazi de superioridad racial, diciendo en cambio que sólo había "una única raza humana". Su sucesor, Pío XII, empleó la diplomacia para ayudar a los judíos y ordenó a su Iglesia que proporcionara una ayuda discreta. Si bien algunos han criticado la cautela general de su enfoque, su discurso de radio navideño de 1942denunció el asesinato de "cientos de miles" de personas inocentes por motivos de "nacionalidad o raza" e intervino para intentar bloquear las deportaciones nazis de judíos en varios países. Cuando los nazis vinieron por los judíos de Italia, unos 4715 de los 5715 judíos de Roma encontraron refugio en 150 instituciones de la Iglesia, 477 en el propio Vaticano y en enero de 1944, abrió su Palacio en Castel Gandolfo , que finalmente acogió a 12 mil judíos y no -Católicos.
Los obispos católicos en Alemania a veces se pronunciaron sobre cuestiones de derechos humanos, pero las protestas contra las políticas antijudías tendían a ser mediante cabildeo privado de los ministros del gobierno. Después de la encíclica Mystici corporis Christi de Pío XII de 1943 (que condenaba la matanza de discapacitados en medio del programa de eutanasia nazi en curso ), una declaración conjunta de los obispos alemanes denunció la matanza de "inocentes e indefensos discapacitados mentales, enfermos incurables y rehenes inocentes heridos de muerte. y prisioneros de guerra desarmados y delincuentes, personas de raza o ascendencia extranjera ". [2] Los sacerdotes de la resistencia activos en el rescate de judíos incluyen a los mártires Bernard Lichtenberg y Alfred Delp , y mujeres laicas.Gertrud Luckner y Margarete Sommer utilizaron agencias católicas para ayudar a los judíos alemanes, bajo la protección de obispos como Konrad von Preysing .
En Italia, los papas presionaron a Mussolini contra las políticas antisemitas, mientras que los diplomáticos del Vaticano, entre ellos Giuseppe Burzio en Eslovaquia, Filippo Bernardini en Suiza y Angelo Roncalli en Turquía rescataron a miles. El nuncio en Budapest, Angelo Rotta y Bucarest, Andrea Cassulo , han sido reconocidos por Yad Vashem . La Iglesia jugó un papel importante en la defensa de los judíos en Bélgica, Francia y los Países Bajos, alentada por las protestas de líderes como el cardenal Jozef-Ernest van Roey , el arzobispo Jules-Géraud Saliège y Johannes de Jong . Desde su oficina en el Vaticano, MonseñorHugh O'Flaherty realizó una operación de escape para judíos y fugitivos aliados. Sacerdotes y monjas de órdenes como los jesuitas, franciscanos y benedictinos escondían a los niños en monasterios, conventos y escuelas. [3] Margit Slachta 's húngaro Servicio Social hermandad salvó a miles. En Polonia, la organización única Żegota también rescató a miles y las Hermanas Franciscanas de la Madre Matylda Getter albergaron a cientos de niños judíos que escaparon del gueto de Varsovia . En Francia, Bélgica e Italia, las redes clandestinas católicas fueron particularmente activas y salvaron a miles de judíos, particularmente en el centro de Italia, donde grupos como Assisi Networkestaban activos, y en el sur de Francia. [4]
Dentro del Tercer Reich [ editar ]
Si bien la Iglesia católica en Alemania fue una de las pocas organizaciones que ofreció una resistencia organizada y sistemática a algunas políticas del Tercer Reich; [5] las considerables energías gastadas por la iglesia alemana en oponerse a la interferencia del gobierno en la iglesia no fueron igualadas en público por protestas contra las políticas antijudías del régimen. [6] Según Ian Kershaw , mientras que el "aborrecimiento del nazismo era abrumador dentro de la Iglesia católica", el antijudaísmo cristiano tradicional "no era un baluarte" contra el antisemitismo biológico nazi. [7] La Iglesia en Alemania se enfrentaba a la persecución nazi . [8]Los obispos alemanes temían que las protestas contra las políticas antijudías del régimen invitaran a tomar represalias contra los católicos. [9] Las protestas que se hicieron tendían a ser cartas privadas a los ministros del gobierno. [6]
La relación de la Iglesia con los judíos tuvo una historia accidentada, que implicaba sospecha y respeto. Geoffrey Blainey escribió: "El cristianismo no pudo escapar a una culpa indirecta del Holocausto. Los judíos y los cristianos fueron rivales, a veces enemigos, durante un largo período de la historia. Además, era tradicional que los cristianos culparan a los líderes judíos por la crucifixión de Cristo ... . Al mismo tiempo, los cristianos mostraron devoción y respeto. Eran conscientes de su deuda con los judíos. Jesús y todos los discípulos y todos los autores de los evangelios eran de la raza judía. Los cristianos vieron el Antiguo Testamento, el libro sagrado de las sinagogas, como también un libro sagrado para ellos ... ". [10]
Hamerow escribe que la simpatía por los judíos era común entre los católicos de la Resistencia alemana , que veían tanto a los católicos como a los judíos como minorías religiosas expuestas al fanatismo por parte de la mayoría. Esta simpatía llevó a algunos laicos y clérigos a hablar públicamente contra la persecución de los judíos, como el sacerdote que escribió en un periódico en 1934 que era una tarea sagrada de la iglesia oponerse al "orgullo racial pecaminoso y al odio ciego de los judíos". ". Sin embargo, el liderazgo de la Iglesia Católica en Alemania, en general, dudaba en hablar específicamente en nombre de los judíos. [11] La resistencia de la Iglesia al Holocausto en Alemania generalmente se dejó a esfuerzos fragmentados y en gran parte individuales. [7] Obispos alemanes como Konrad von Preysingy Joseph Frings fueron excepciones notables por la energía y la coherencia de sus críticas al tratamiento del gobierno a los judíos. [12]
El cardenal Michael von Faulhaber ganó una reputación temprana como crítico del movimiento nazi. [13] Poco después de la toma de posesión nazi, sus tres sermones de Adviento de 1933, titulados Judaísmo, cristianismo y Alemania , afirmaron los orígenes judíos de la religión cristiana, la continuidad del Antiguo y Nuevo Testamento de la Biblia y la importancia de la Tradición cristiana a Alemania. [13] Aunque las palabras de Faulhaber se enmarcaron con cautela como una discusión de la historiaEl judaísmo, sus sermones denunciaron a los extremistas nazis que pedían que la Biblia fuera purgada del Antiguo Testamento "judío" como una grave amenaza para el cristianismo: al tratar de adherirse al principio central del nazismo, "Los fanáticos antisemitas ... . ", escribió Hamerow, también estaban socavando" la base del catolicismo. Ya no era posible la acomodación, ni la aquiescencia; el cardenal tuvo que enfrentarse al enemigo de frente ". [14] Durante el pogrom de la Kristallnacht de 1938 , Faulhaber suministró un camión al rabino de la sinagoga Ohel Yaakov para rescatar objetos sagrados antes de que el edificio fuera demolido. Tras las manifestaciones masivas contra judíos y católicos, una turba nazi atacó el palacio de Faulhaber y rompió sus ventanas. [15]
El obispo de Munster, August von Galen, aunque conservador y nacionalista alemán, criticó la política racial nazi en un sermón en enero de 1934, y en homilías posteriores habló en contra de la teoría de Hitler sobre la pureza de la sangre alemana. [16] Cuando en 1933, el superintendente de la escuela nazi de Munster emitió un decreto que combinaba la instrucción religiosa con la discusión del "poder desmoralizador" del "pueblo de Israel", Galen se negó, escribiendo que tal interferencia en el plan de estudios era una violación de el concordato del Reich y que temía que los niños se confundieran en cuanto a su "obligación de actuar con caridad para con todos los hombres" y en cuanto a la misión histórica del pueblo de Israel. [17]En 1941, con la Wehrmacht aún marchando sobre Moscú, Galeno denunció la anarquía de la Gestapo y el cruel programa de eutanasia nazi y fue más allá de defender a la iglesia al hablar de un peligro moral para Alemania por las violaciones del régimen de los derechos humanos básicos: "El derecho a la vida, a la inviolabilidad y a la libertad es parte indispensable de cualquier orden social moral", dijo, y cualquier gobierno que castigue sin procedimientos judiciales "socava su propia autoridad y el respeto a su soberanía dentro de la conciencia de sus ciudadanos. ". [18]
Respuesta a la Kristallnacht y creciente brutalidad [ editar ]
El 11 de noviembre de 1938, después de la Kristallnacht , el Papa Pío XI se unió a los líderes occidentales para condenar el pogromo. En respuesta, los nazis organizaron manifestaciones masivas contra católicos y judíos en Munich, y el Gauleiter bávaro Adolf Wagner declaró ante 5.000 manifestantes: "Cada declaración que hace el Papa en Roma es una incitación de los judíos de todo el mundo a agitar contra Alemania". Una turba nazi atacó el palacio del cardenal Faulhaber y rompió sus ventanas. [15] El 21 de noviembre, en un discurso a los católicos del mundo, el Papa rechazó la afirmación nazi de superioridad racial e insistió en su lugar en que había una sola raza humana. Robert Ley, el Ministro de Trabajo nazi declaró al día siguiente en Viena: "No se tolerará ninguna compasión por los judíos. Negamos la declaración del Papa de que hay una sola raza humana. Los judíos son parásitos". Líderes católicos como el cardenal Schuster de Milán, el cardenal van Roey en Bélgica y el cardenal Verdier en París respaldaron la fuerte condena del Papa a la Kristallnacht. [19] En su catedral de Berlín, el p. Bernhard Lichtenberg cerró cada servicio vespertino con una oración "por los judíos y los prisioneros pobres en los campos de concentración". [20]
A partir de 1934, había comenzado en Alemania la esterilización forzosa de los enfermos hereditarios. Basado en teorías eugenésicas , propuso limpiar la nación alemana de "animales reproductores insalubres" y se dio un paso más allá en 1939, cuando el régimen comenzó su "eutanasia". Esta fue la primera de la infame serie de programas de exterminio masivo del régimen, en la que los nazis intentaron eliminar la "vida indigna de la vida" de Europa: primero los discapacitados, luego los judíos, los gitanos, los homosexuales, los testigos de Jehová y otros considerados "subnormales". . En última instancia, los judíos sufrieron más en términos numéricos, mientras que los gitanos sufrieron la mayor pérdida proporcional. Los judíos luego llamaron a la tragedia El Holocausto (o Shoah ). [21]
La orden de Hitler para el Programa de Eutanasia T4 estaba fechada el 1 de septiembre, el día en que Alemania invadió Polonia. A medida que se corrió la voz del programa, la protesta creció, hasta que finalmente, el obispo August von Galen pronunció sus famosos sermones de 1941 denunciando el programa como "asesinato". Se distribuyeron por toda Alemania miles de copias de los sermones. Galeno denunció las violaciones de derechos humanos básicos por parte del régimen: "el derecho a la vida, a la inviolabilidad y a la libertad es una parte indispensable de cualquier orden social moral", dijo, y cualquier gobierno que castigue sin procedimientos judiciales "socava su propia autoridad y respeto a su soberanía en la conciencia de sus ciudadanos ”. [18]Las palabras tenían una profunda resonancia para los programas de exterminio masivo que aún estaban por venir, y forzaron el programa de eutanasia a la clandestinidad. A diferencia del asesinato de inválidos por eutanasia nazi, contra el cual la iglesia encabezó protestas, la liquidación de los judíos por la Solución Final no tuvo lugar principalmente en suelo alemán, sino en territorio polaco. Por tanto, el conocimiento de la campaña asesina estaba menos extendido. Las protestas que hicieron los obispos católicos en Alemania con respecto a las políticas antisemitas del régimen, tendían a ser por medio de cartas privadas a los ministros del gobierno. [6] Pero la Iglesia ya había rechazado la ideología racial.
Los campos de concentración nazis se habían establecido en 1933, como cárceles políticas, pero no fue hasta la invasión de Rusia que se abrieron los campos de exterminio y las técnicas aprendidas en el abortado programa de eutanasia fueron transportadas a Oriente para los exterminios raciales. El proceso de gaseamiento comenzó en diciembre de 1941. [22] Durante el pontificado del Papa Juan Pablo II , la Iglesia Católica reflexionó sobre el Holocausto en Recordamos: Una Reflexión sobre la Shoah (1998). El documento reconocía una historia negativa de "sentimientos de desconfianza y hostilidad de larga data que llamamos antijudaísmo " de muchos cristianos hacia los judíos, pero los distinguía del antisemitismo racial de los nazis: [23]
Empezaron a aparecer teorías que negaban la unidad de la raza humana, afirmando una diversidad original de razas. En el siglo XX, el nacionalsocialismo en Alemania utilizó estas ideas como una base pseudocientífica para una distinción entre las llamadas razas nórdico-arias y razas supuestamente inferiores. Además, una forma extremista de nacionalismo se acentuó en Alemania por la derrota de 1918 y las exigentes condiciones impuestas por los vencedores, con la consecuencia de que muchos vieron en el nacionalsocialismo una solución a los problemas de su país y cooperaron políticamente con este movimiento. La Iglesia en Alemania respondió condenando el racismo.
- De We Remember: Una reflexión sobre la Shoah (1998)
La diplomacia del Vaticano en Alemania [ editar ]
Eugenio Pacelli (más tarde Papa Pío XII) se desempeñó como representante diplomático de Pío XI en Alemania (1917-1929) y luego como Secretario de Estado del Vaticano (1929-1939), período durante el cual pronunció múltiples denuncias de la ideología racial nazi. Como secretario de Estado, Pacelli realizó unas 55 protestas contra las políticas nazis, incluida su "ideología de la raza". [24] Cuando el gobierno nazi recién instalado comenzó a instigar su programa de antisemitismo, el Papa Pío XI, a través del Cardenal Pacelli, quien para entonces se desempeñaba como Secretario de Estado del Vaticano, ordenó al sucesor Nuncio Papal en Berlín, Cesare Orsenigo, para "investigar si es posible participar y cómo es posible participar" en su ayuda. Orsenigo generalmente resultó ser un instrumento pobre en este sentido, más preocupado por las políticas anti-eclesiásticas de los nazis y cómo estas podrían afectar a los católicos alemanes, que por tomar medidas para ayudar a los judíos alemanes. [25] En la evaluación del historiador Michael Phayer , Orsenigo intervino en nombre de los judíos, pero solo en raras ocasiones, y aparte de su intento de detener un plan para "reasentar" a judíos casados con cristianos, cuando la Santa Sede le ordenó protestar. contra el maltrato de los judíos, lo hizo "tímidamente". [26]
La encíclica papal antinazi de 1937 Mit brennender Sorge fue redactada en parte por Pacelli como secretario de Estado del Vaticano. Repudió la teoría racial nazi y el "llamado mito de la raza y la sangre". [27] Pacelli se convirtió en Papa en 1939 y les dijo a los funcionarios del Vaticano que tenía la intención de reservarse el importante manejo de la diplomacia con Alemania para él. [28] Emitió Summi Pontificatuscon habló de la igualdad de razas, y de judíos y gentiles. Después de una transmisión de la Radio Vaticana el 21 de junio de 1943 a Alemania que hablaba en defensa de los judíos yugoslavos, Pío XII instruyó al nuncio papal en Alemania, Cesare Orsenigo, que hablara directamente con Hitler sobre la persecución de los judíos. Orsenigo se reunió más tarde con Hitler en Berchtesgaden, pero cuando se planteó el tema de los judíos, Hitler supuestamente le dio la espalda y rompió un vaso en el suelo. [29]
Esfuerzos católicos alemanes para salvar a los judíos en Alemania [ editar ]
Mary Fulbrook escribió que cuando la política invadió la iglesia, los católicos estaban preparados para resistir, pero que el historial era irregular y desigual, y que, con notables excepciones, "parece que, para muchos alemanes, la adhesión a la fe cristiana demostró ser compatible con al menos una aquiescencia pasiva, si no un apoyo activo, a la dictadura nazi ". [30] El cardenal Bertram de Breslau, presidente de la Conferencia de Obispos de Alemania, desarrolló un sistema de protesta que "satisfizo las demandas de los otros obispos sin molestar al régimen". La resistencia más firme de los líderes católicos se reafirmó gradualmente por las acciones individuales de líderes eclesiásticos como Joseph Frings , Konrad von Preysing , August von Galen yMichael von Faulhaber .
Entre los católicos de alto rango más firmes y consistentes que se opusieron a los nazis se encontraba el obispo Konrad von Preysing . Preysing fue nombrado obispo de Berlín en 1935. [31] Hitler odiaba a Preysing, quien decía que "los más inmundos son los que vienen vestidos con el manto de la humildad y los más inmundos de estos Conde Presying! ¡Qué bestia!". [32] Von Preysing se opuso a las actitudes apaciguadoras del cardenal Bertram hacia los nazis y habló en los sermones públicos y defendió la firme oposición en las conferencias episcopales. También trabajó con miembros destacados de la resistencia Carl Goerdeler y Helmuth James Graf von Moltke . Formó parte de la comisión de cinco miembros que preparó la encíclica papalEncíclica antinazi Mit brennender Sorge de marzo de 1937. [33] [34] En 1938, se convirtió en uno de los cofundadores de la Hilfswerk beim Bischöflichen Ordinariat Berlin (Oficina de Bienestar Social de la Oficina de la Diócesis de Berlín). Se ocupó de los judíos bautizados y no bautizados y protestó por el programa de eutanasia nazi. [34]
Mientras que el obispo von Preysing estaba protegido de las represalias nazis por su cargo, el administrador de la catedral y confidente Bernard Lichtenberg , no lo estaba. [35] P. Bernard Lichtenberg sirvió en la Catedral de Santa Eduvigis desde 1932 y estuvo bajo la vigilancia de la Gestapo por su valiente apoyo a los prisioneros y judíos. [35] Lichtenberg dirigía la unidad de ayuda del obispo von Preysing de Berlín ( Hilfswerke beim Bischöflichen Ordinariat Berlin ) que ayudaba en secreto a los perseguidos por el régimen. [36] De la Kristallnachtpogromo de noviembre de 1938 en adelante, Lichtenberg cerró cada servicio nocturno con una oración por "los judíos y los prisioneros pobres en los campos de concentración", incluidos "mis compañeros sacerdotes allí". [37] [38] El 23 de octubre de 1942, ofreció una oración por los judíos deportados a Oriente, diciendo a su congregación que extendiera a los judíos el mandamiento de Cristo de "Amar a tu prójimo". [38] Por predicar contra la propaganda nazi y escribir una carta de protesta sobre la eutanasia nazi, fue arrestado en 1941, sentenciado a dos años de servidumbre penal y murió en el camino al campo de concentración de Dachau en 1943. [37] Posteriormente fue honrado por Yad Vashem como Justo entre las Naciones .[39]
Entre los laicos alemanes, Gertrud Luckner fue una de las primeras en sentir las inclinaciones genocidas del régimen de Hitler y en emprender acciones nacionales. [40] Pacifista y miembro de la Asociación de Paz de los Católicos Alemanes , había estado apoyando a las víctimas de la persecución política desde 1933 y desde 1938 trabajó en la oficina central de la Asociación Alemana de Organizaciones Caritativas Católicas, "Caritas". Utilizando contactos internacionales, consiguió un pasaje seguro al extranjero para muchos refugiados. Organizó círculos de ayuda para judíos, ayudó a muchos a escapar. [41] Ella cooperó con los sacerdotes Lichtenberg y Alfred Delp.. Tras el estallido de la guerra, continuó su trabajo para los judíos a través de la oficina de ayuda de guerra de Caritas, intentando establecer una red clandestina nacional a través de las células de Caritas. [40] Ella investigó personalmente la suerte de los judíos que eran transportados a Oriente y logró obtener información sobre prisioneros en campos de concentración y obtener ropa, alimentos y dinero para trabajadores forzados y prisioneros de guerra. [41] Caritas aseguró la emigración segura de cientos de judíos convertidos, pero Luckner no pudo organizar una red clandestina nacional eficaz. Fue arrestada en 1943 y escapó por poco de la muerte en los campos de concentración. [40]
Margarete Sommer había sido despedida de su instituto de asistencia social por negarse a enseñar la línea nazi sobre la esterilización. En 1935, ocupó un puesto en la Autoridad Diocesana Episcopal en Berlín, asesorando a víctimas de persecución racial para la Ayuda de Emergencia de Caritas. En 1941 se convirtió en directora de la Oficina de Bienestar Social de la Autoridad Diocesana de Berlín, bajo la dirección de Bernhard Lichtenberg. [42] Tras el arresto de Lichtenberg, Sommer informó al obispo Konrad von Preysing . [42]Mientras trabajaba para la Oficina de Bienestar Social, Sommer coordinó la ayuda católica para las víctimas de la persecución racial, brindando consuelo espiritual, comida, ropa y dinero. Recopiló inteligencia sobre las deportaciones de judíos y las condiciones de vida en los campos de concentración, así como en los pelotones de fusilamiento de las SS, y escribió varios informes sobre estos temas a partir de 1942, incluido un informe de agosto de 1942 que llegó a Roma con el título "Informe sobre el éxodo. de los judíos ". [42]
Josef Frings se convirtió en arzobispo de Colonia en 1942. En sus sermones, habló repetidamente en apoyo de los pueblos perseguidos y en contra de la represión estatal. En marzo de 1944, Frings atacó detenciones arbitrarias, persecución racial y divorcios forzados. Ese otoño, protestó ante la Gestapo contra las deportaciones de judíos de Colonia y alrededores. [43] En 1943, los obispos alemanes habían debatido si confrontar directamente a Hitler colectivamente sobre lo que sabían del asesinato de judíos. Frings escribió una carta pastoral advirtiendo a su diócesis que no violara los derechos inherentes a la vida de los demás, incluso aquellos que "no son de nuestra sangre" e incluso durante la guerra, y predicó en un sermón que "nadie puede tomar la propiedad o la vida de un inocente". persona simplemente porque es miembro de una raza extranjera ".[44]
El papado [ editar ]
Pío XI y el preludio del Holocausto [ editar ]
En la década de 1930, el Papa Pío XI instó a Mussolini a pedirle a Hitler que refrenara las acciones antisemitas que tenían lugar en Alemania. [45] En 1937, publicó la encíclica Mit brennender Sorge ( alemán : "Con ardiente preocupación" ), en la que afirmaba la inviolabilidad de los derechos humanos. [46] Fue escrito en parte en respuesta a las Leyes de Nuremberg y condenó las teorías raciales y el maltrato de personas basado en la raza. [47] [48] [49]Repudió la teoría racial nazi y el "llamado mito de la raza y la sangre". Denunciaba "Quien exalta la raza, o el pueblo, o el Estado ... por encima de su valor estándar y los diviniza a un nivel idólatra"; habló de valores divinos independientes del "país espacial y la raza" y una Iglesia para "todas las razas"; y dijo: "Nadie más que mentes superficiales podría tropezar con los conceptos de un Dios nacional, de una religión nacional; o intentar encerrarse dentro de las fronteras de un solo pueblo, dentro de los estrechos límites de una sola raza, Dios, el Creador del universo. [27] El documento señalaba en el horizonte las "nubes de tormenta amenazadoras" de las guerras religiosas de exterminio en Alemania. [47] [50]El secretario de Estado de Pío XI, el cardenal Pacelli (futuro Pío XII), realizó unas 55 protestas contra las políticas nazis, incluida su "ideología de la raza". [24]
Tras el Anschluss y la extensión de las leyes antisemitas en Alemania, los refugiados judíos buscaron refugio fuera del Reich. En Roma, Pío XI le dijo a un grupo de peregrinos belgas el 6 de septiembre de 1938: "No es posible que los cristianos participen en el antisemitismo. Espiritualmente somos semitas". [51] Tras la Kristallnacht de noviembre de ese año, Pío XI condenó el pogromo, provocando manifestaciones masivas contra católicos y judíos en Munich, donde el Gauleiter bávaro Adolf Wagner declaró: "Cada declaración que hace el Papa en Roma es una incitación a los judíos en que el mundo se agite contra Alemania ". [15] El Vaticano tomó medidas para encontrar refugio a los judíos. [ cita requerida] El 21 de noviembre, en un discurso a los católicos del mundo, Pío XI rechazó la afirmación nazi de superioridad racial e insistió en su lugar en que había una sola raza humana. [19]
Pío XII y la guerra [ editar ]
Pío XII sucedió a Pío XI en vísperas de la guerra en 1939. Debía emplear la diplomacia para ayudar a las víctimas del Holocausto y ordenó a su Iglesia que proporcionara ayuda discreta a los judíos. [52] Sus encíclicas como Summi Pontificatus y Mystici corporis hablaban contra el racismo, con referencia específica a los judíos: "no hay gentil ni judío, circuncisión ni incircuncisión". [53]
Summi Pontificatus [ editar ]
La primera encíclica papal Summi Pontificatus siguió a la invasión nazi / soviética de Polonia, y reiteró la enseñanza católica contra el racismo y el antisemitismo y afirmó los principios éticos de la " Revelación sobre el Sinaí ". Pío reiteró la enseñanza de la Iglesia sobre el "principio de igualdad", con referencia específica a los judíos: "no hay ni gentiles ni judíos, circuncisión ni incircuncisión". [53] El olvido de la solidaridad "impuesto por nuestro origen común y por la igualdad de la naturaleza racional en todos los hombres" fue llamado "error pernicioso". [54] Se pidió a los católicos de todo el mundo que ofrecieran "compasión y ayuda" a las víctimas de la guerra. [55] La carta también denunció la muerte de no combatientes.[56]Los obispos locales recibieron instrucciones de ayudar a los necesitados. [57] Pío pasó a hacer una serie de condenas generales del racismo y el genocidio durante el curso de la guerra. [57] [58]
Discurso de Navidad del Papa de 1942 [ editar ]
Después de la invasión de la Unión Soviética, la Alemania nazi comenzó su asesinato masivo industrializado de judíos, alrededor de finales de 1941 / principios de 1942. Pío XII empleó la diplomacia para ayudar a las víctimas del Holocausto y ordenó a su Iglesia que proporcionara ayuda discreta a los judíos. [52] En la Navidad de 1942, una vez que surgió la evidencia de la masacre masiva de judíos, Pío XII expresó su preocupación.ante el asesinato de "cientos de miles" de personas "impecables" debido a su "nacionalidad o raza" e intervino para intentar bloquear las deportaciones nazis de judíos en varios países. Según la Encyclopædia Britannica, se negó a decir más "por temor a que las denuncias papales públicas pudieran provocar que el régimen de Hitler brutalizara aún más a los sujetos del terror nazi, como lo hizo cuando los obispos holandeses protestaron públicamente a principios de año", al tiempo que ponía en peligro el futuro de Iglesia". [59] Independientemente, las autoridades nazis estaban angustiadas por la intervención papal. La Oficina Principal de Seguridad del Reich , responsable de la deportación de judíos, señaló: [60]
De una manera nunca antes conocida, el Papa ha repudiado el Nuevo Orden Europeo Nacionalsocialista ... Aquí está acusando virtualmente al pueblo alemán de injusticia hacia los judíos y se convierte en el portavoz de los criminales de guerra judíos.
- Oficina principal de seguridad del Reich , después del discurso de Navidad de 1942 del Papa Pío XII
Italia [ editar ]
En Italia, donde la influencia directa del Papa fue más fuerte, bajo Mussolini, no se había implementado ninguna política de secuestro de judíos en Italia. Tras la capitulación de Italia en 1943, las fuerzas nazis invadieron y ocuparon gran parte del país y comenzaron las deportaciones de judíos a campos de exterminio. Pío XII protestó a nivel diplomático, mientras que varios miles de judíos encontraron refugio en redes, instituciones y hogares católicos en toda Italia, incluso en la Ciudad del Vaticano y la Residencia de Verano del Papa Pío . El antisemitismo no había sido un principio fundamental del fascismo italiano, aunque el régimen de Mussolini se acercó más a Hitler con el tiempo. El 27 de junio de 1943, Radio Vaticanose informa que ha transmitido un mandato papal: "El que hace una distinción entre judíos y otros hombres está siendo infiel a Dios y está en conflicto con los mandamientos de Dios". [61] En julio de 1943, con los aliados avanzando desde el sur, Mussolini fue derrocado y el 1 de septiembre, el nuevo gobierno acordó un armisticio con los aliados. [62] Los alemanes ocuparon gran parte del país, comenzando un esfuerzo por deportar a los judíos de la nación. [63]
Según Sir Martin Gilbert , cuando los nazis llegaron a Roma en busca de judíos, Pío ya había "Unos días antes ... ordenó personalmente al clero del Vaticano que abriera los santuarios de la Ciudad del Vaticano a todos los" no arios "necesitados. En la mañana del 16 de octubre, un total de 477 judíos habían recibido refugio en el Vaticano y sus enclaves, mientras que otros 4.238 habían recibido santuario en los numerosos monasterios y conventos de Roma. Solo 1.015 de los 6.730 judíos de Roma fueron capturados esa mañana". [64]
El Papa había ayudado a los judíos de Roma en septiembre, ofreciendo cualquier cantidad de oro que pudiera ser necesaria para el rescate de 50 kg exigido por los nazis. Al recibir la noticia de las redadas en la mañana del 16 de octubre, el Papa ordenó inmediatamente al cardenal secretario de Estado, cardenal Maglione, que hiciera una protesta al embajador alemán en el Vaticano, Ernst von Weizsacker.: "Maglione lo hizo esa mañana, dejando claro al embajador que la deportación de judíos era ofensiva para el Papa. Al instar a Weizsacker 'a tratar de salvar a estas personas inocentes', Maglione añadió:" Es triste para el Santo Padre, triste más allá de la imaginación, que aquí en Roma, bajo los ojos mismos del Padre Común, tanta gente deba sufrir sólo por pertenecer a una raza específica '”. Después de la reunión, Weizsacker ordenó que se detuvieran las detenciones. [24]
Pius ayudó a varios rescatadores destacados. Desde dentro del Vaticano, y en cooperación con Pío XII, [65] Monseñor Hugh O'Flaherty , realizó una operación de escape para judíos y fugitivos aliados. En 2012, el Irish Independent Newspaper le atribuyó haber salvado a más de 6.500 personas durante la guerra. [66] Pietro Palazzini fue vicerrector asistente en un seminario pontificio durante la guerra, e Israel lo recuerda por sus esfuerzos por los judíos italianos durante la guerra. Escondió a Michael Tagliacozzo en una propiedad del Vaticano para 1943 y 1944, cuando los nazis acorralaban a judíos italianos y fue reconocido por Yad Vashem en 1985. [67] Giovanni Ferrofinose le atribuye haber salvado a 10.000 judíos. Actuando bajo órdenes secretas del Papa Pío XII , Ferrofino obtuvo visas del gobierno portugués y la República Dominicana para asegurar su escape de Europa y santuario en las Américas. [39] Pío proporcionó fondos a los refugiados judíos de Fiume salvados por Giovanni Palatucci ya otras operaciones de rescate, al capuchino francés Pierre-Marie Benoit de Marsella y otros. Cuando el arzobispo Giovanni Montini (más tarde Papa Pablo VI) recibió un premio por su trabajo de rescate por parte de Israel, dijo que solo había estado actuando por orden de Pío XII. [24]
Intervenciones diplomáticas directas [ editar ]
Pío XII permitió que las jerarquías nacionales de la Iglesia evaluaran y respondieran a su situación local bajo el dominio nazi, pero él mismo estableció el Servicio de Información del Vaticano para brindar ayuda e información sobre los refugiados de guerra. [59] Dio su bendición al establecimiento de casas seguras dentro del Vaticano y en monasterios y conventos en toda Europa y supervisó una operación secreta para que los sacerdotes protegieran a los judíos mediante documentos falsos, con algunos judíos convertidos en sujetos del Vaticano para evitarlos. Nazis. Siguiendo instrucciones papales, 4000 judíos fueron escondidos en monasterios y conventos italianos, y 2000 judíos húngaros recibieron documentos falsos que los identificaban como católicos. [sesenta y cinco]Los representantes diplomáticos de Pius presionaron en nombre de los judíos en toda Europa, incluso en los aliados nazis de Hungría, Rumania, Bulgaria, Croacia y Eslovaquia, Vichy Francia y otros lugares. Los nuncios papales más activos en el rescate de judíos incluyeron a Angelo Roncalli (el futuro Papa Juan XXIII); y Angelo Rotta , nuncio en Budapest, que permitió la supervivencia de muchos judíos y fue reconocido como Justo entre las Naciones por Yad Vashem; y el arzobispo Andrea Cassulo , nuncio en Rumania, quien apeló al régimen de Antonescu para que detuviera las deportaciones de judíos, y recibió el mismo honor de Yad Vashem.
Pius protestó por las deportaciones de judíos eslovacos al gobierno de Bratislava desde 1942. Giuseppe Burzio , el delegado apostólico en Bratislava, protestó por el antisemita y el totalitarismo del régimen de Tiso. [68]
Pius hizo una intervención directa en Hungría para presionar por el fin de las deportaciones de judíos en 1944, y el 4 de julio, el líder húngaro, el almirante Horthy , le dijo al representante de Berlín que las deportaciones de judíos deben cesar, citando protestas del Vaticano, el rey de Suecia. ya la Cruz Roja por su decisión. [69] La Cruz de Flecha antisemita y pronazi tomó el poder en octubre y comenzó una campaña de asesinato de judíos. Las potencias neutrales lideraron un importante esfuerzo de rescate y el representante de Pío, Angelo Rotta, tomó la iniciativa de establecer un "gueto internacional", alrededor del cual las legaciones suiza, sueca, portuguesa, española y vaticana colocaron sus emblemas, proporcionando refugio a unos 25.000 judíos. [70]
Diplomáticos del Vaticano [ editar ]
La neutralidad del Vaticano durante la guerra permitió que la red de diplomáticos de la Santa Sede continuara operando en los territorios ocupados del Imperio Nazi, permitiendo la diseminación de inteligencia a Roma e intervenciones diplomáticas en nombre de las víctimas del conflicto. Los representantes diplomáticos de Pius presionaron en nombre de los judíos en toda Europa, incluidos los aliados nazis de Vichy Francia , Hungría, Rumania, Bulgaria, Croacia y Eslovaquia, la propia Alemania y otros lugares. [24] [71] [72] [73] [74] Muchos nuncios papales desempeñaron un papel importante en el rescate de judíos, entre ellos Giuseppe Burzio , el Encargado de Negocios del Vaticano en Eslovaquia, Filippo Bernardini, Nuncio en Suiza y Angelo Roncalli , el nuncio en Turquía. [75] Angelo Rotta , el nuncio papal en tiempos de guerra en Budapest y Andrea Cassulo , el nuncio papal en Bucarest han sido reconocidos como [[Justos entre las Naciones]] por Yad Vashem , la Autoridad de Conmemoración de los Héroes y Mártires del Holocausto de Israel.
- Vichy Francia
Con el Imperio Nazi en toda su extensión a fines de 1942, los nazis buscaron extender sus redadas de judíos y la resistencia comenzó a extenderse. En Lyon, el cardenal Gerlierdesafiante se había negado a entregar a los niños judíos que se encontraban en hogares católicos, y el 9 de septiembre se informó en Londres que las autoridades francesas de Vichy habían ordenado el arresto de todos los sacerdotes católicos que albergaban a judíos en la zona desocupada. Ocho jesuitas fueron arrestados por albergar a cientos de niños en propiedades jesuitas, y el secretario de Estado de Pío XII, el cardenal Maglione, informó al embajador de Vichy en el Vaticano que "la conducta del gobierno de Vichy hacia los judíos y los refugiados extranjeros era una grave infracción" de la ley de Vichy. principios del propio gobierno, e "irreconciliable con los sentimientos religiosos que el mariscal Pétain había invocado tantas veces en sus discursos". [76]
- Croacia
Alemania, Italia, Bulgaria y Hungría desmembraron Yugoslavia en abril de 1941. [77] En las regiones controladas por Italia, las autoridades italianas protegieron a los judíos de las redadas nazis, como ocurrió en todo el territorio italiano. Martin Gilbert escribió que cuando comenzaron las negociaciones para la deportación de judíos de la zona italiana, el general Roatta se negó rotundamente, lo que llevó al enviado de Hitler, Siegfried Kasche , a informar que algunos de los subordinados de Mussolini "aparentemente habían sido influenciados" por la oposición en el Vaticano al antisemitismo alemán. . [78]
La mayor parte de Croacia cayeron al nuevo Estado independiente de Croacia , donde Ante Pavelic 's Ustaše se instalaron en el poder. A diferencia de Hitler, Pavelic era pro católico, pero sus ideologías se superponían lo suficiente como para facilitar la cooperación. [79] El Vaticano rechazó el reconocimiento formal del nuevo estado, pero envió a un abad benedictino , Giuseppe Ramiro Marcone , como visitante apostólico. [79] Gilbert escribió: "En la capital croata de Zagreb, como resultado de la intervención de [Marcone] en nombre de las parejas judías en matrimonios mixtos, mil judíos croatas sobrevivieron a la guerra". Mientras que el arzobispo de Zagreb, Aloysius Stepinac, quien en 1941 dio la bienvenida a la independencia croata, "posteriormente condenó las atrocidades de los croatas contra serbios y judíos, y salvó a un grupo de judíos en un asilo de ancianos". [80]
Varios nacionalistas católicos croatas colaboraron en las políticas antisemitas del régimen. Pavelic le dijo al ministro de Relaciones Exteriores nazi Ribbentrop que, si bien el bajo clero apoyaba a Ustase, los obispos, y particularmente Stepinac, se oponían al movimiento debido a la "política internacional del Vaticano". [81] En la primavera de 1942, tras una reunión con Pío XII en Roma, Stepinac declaró públicamente que estaba "prohibido exterminar a gitanos y judíos porque se dice que pertenecen a una raza inferior". [82]
El delegado apostólico en Turquía, Angelo Roncalli , salvó a varios judíos croatas, así como a judíos búlgaros y húngaros, asistiendo en su migración a Palestina. Roncalli sucedió a Pío XII como Papa Juan XXIII, y siempre dijo que había estado actuando bajo las órdenes de Pío XII en sus acciones para rescatar judíos. [83]
- Eslovaquia
Slovakia was a rump state formed by Hitler when Germany annexed the western half of Czechoslovakia.[84] The small agricultural region had a predominantly Catholic population, and became a nominally independent state, with a Catholic priest, Jozef Tiso as president and the extreme-nationalist Vojtech Tuka Tuka as Prime Minister.[85] Slovakia, under Tiso and Tuka had power over 90,000 Jews. Like the Nazis other main allies, Petain, Mussolini, and Horthy - Tiso did not share the racist hardline on Jews held by Hitler and radicals within his own government, but held a more traditional, conservative antisemitism.[86] His regime was nonetheless highly antisemitic.[87] Giuseppe Burzio, the Apostolic Delegate to Bratislava, protested against the anti-Semitic and totalitarianism of the Tiso regime.[68]
In February 1942, Tiso agreed to begin deportations of Jews and Slovakia became the first Nazi ally to agree to deportations under the framework of the Final Solution.[88][89] Later in 1942, amid Vatican protests as news of the fate of the deportees filtered back, and the German advance into Russia was halted, Slovakia became the first of Hitler's puppet states to shut down the deportations.[90]
El Papa Pío XII protestó por las deportaciones de judíos eslovacos al gobierno de Bratislava desde 1942. [68] Burzio también presionó directamente al gobierno eslovaco. [91] El Vaticano llamó al embajador eslovaco dos veces para preguntar qué estaba sucediendo. Estas intervenciones, escribió Evans, "hicieron que Tiso, quien después de todo todavía era un sacerdote en las órdenes sagradas, tuviera dudas sobre el programa". [92] Burzio y otros informaron a Tiso que los alemanes estaban asesinando a los judíos deportados. Tiso vaciló y luego se negó a deportar a los 24.000 judíos restantes de Eslovaquia. [88]Cuando el transporte comenzó de nuevo en 1943, Burzio desafió al primer ministro Tuka por el exterminio de judíos eslovacos. El Vaticano condenó la renovación de las deportaciones el 5 de mayo y el episcopado eslovaco emitió una carta pastoral condenando el totalitarismo y el antisemitismo el 8 de mayo de 1943. [68] Pío protestó diciendo que "la Santa Sede fracasaría en su Mandato Divino si no lo hacía Deploramos estas medidas, que lesionan gravemente al hombre en su derecho natural, principalmente por el hecho de que estas personas pertenecen a una determinada raza ". [24]
Mark Mazower escribió: "Cuando el Vaticano protestó, el gobierno respondió con desafío: 'No hay intervención extranjera que nos detenga en el camino hacia la liberación de Eslovaquia de los judíos', insistió el presidente Tiso". [93] Escenas angustiosas en los patios de ferrocarril de deportados golpeados por guardias de Hlinka habían provocado protestas de la comunidad, incluso de destacados eclesiásticos como el obispo Pavol Jantausch . [94] Según Mazower, "la presión de la Iglesia y la ira pública dieron como resultado que tal vez 20.000 judíos recibieran exenciones, lo que efectivamente puso fin a las deportaciones allí". [93] "Tuka", wrote Evans, was "forced to backtrack by public protests, especially from the Church, which by this time had been convinced of the fate that awaited the deportees. Pressure from the Germans, including a direct confrontation between Hitler and Tiso on 22 April 1943, remained without effect."[95]
When in 1943 rumours of further deportations emerged, the Papal Nuncio in Istanbul, Msgr. Angelo Roncalli (later Pope John XXIII) and Burzio helped galvanize the Holy See into intervening in vigorous terms. On April 7, 1943, Burzio challenged Tuka, over the extermination of Slovak Jews. The Vatican condemned the renewal of the deportations on 5 May and the Slovakian episcopate issued a pastoral letter condemning totalitarianism and antisemitism on 8 May 1943.[68] Roncalli saved thousands of Slovakian Jews by signing visas for immigration to Palestine, crediting this work to the orders of Pope Pius XII.
In August 1944, the Slovak National Uprising rose against the People's Party regime. German troops were sent to quell the rebellion and with them came security police charged with rounding up Slovakia's remaining Jews.[88] Burzio begged Tiso directly to at least spare Catholic Jews from transportation and delivered an admonition from the Pope: "the injustice wrought by his government is harmful to the prestige of his country and enemies will exploit it to discredit clergy and the Church the world over."[68]
- Bulgaria
Bulgaria signed a pact with Hitler in 1941 and reluctantly joined the Axis powers. Mgr Angelo Roncalli - then Papal Nuncio in Turkey, later Pope John XXIII - was among those who lobbied King Boris for the protection of Jewish families. The King effectively thwarted Hitler's plans for the extermination of Bulgaria's Jews, and at war's end, Bulgaria had a larger Jewish population than it had had at the outset.[72]
In 1943, Pius instructed his Bulgarian representative to take "all necessary steps" to support Bulgarian Jews facing deportation and his Turkish nuncio, Angelo Roncalli arranged for the transfer of thousands of children out of Bulgaria to Palestine.[24] The Bulgarian Orthodox Church lobbied firmly against the deportations of Jews, and in March 1943, the King rescinded the order to deport them, and released Jews already in custody - an event known in Bulgaria as the "miracle of the Jewish people".[96]
- Romania
Andrea Cassulo served as Papal nuncio in Romania during the period of World War II. While the country was never occupied by Nazi Germany, the regime of Marshall Ion Antonescu aligned itself with Hitler, and assisted the Nazi Holocaust.[97]
Cassulo has been honoured as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem.[71] In his study of the rescuers of Jews, Gilbert wrote that, Cassulo "appealed directly to Marshall Antonescu to limit the deportations [of Jews to Nazi concentration camps] planned for the summer of 1942. His appeal was ignored; hundreds of thousands of Romanian Jews were transported to Transnistria."[98]
Angelo Roncalli advised the Pope of Jewish concentration camps in Romanian occupied Transnistria. The Pope protested to the Romanian government and authorised for funds to be sent to the camps.[24]
In 1944, the Chief Rabbi of Bucharest praised the work of Cassulo and the Pope on behalf of Romania's Jews: "the generous assistance of the Holy See ... was decisive and salutary. It is not easy for us to find the right words to express the warmth and consolation we experienced because of the concern of the supreme Pontiff, who offered a large sum to relieve the sufferings of deported Jews — sufferings which had been pointed out to him by you after your visit to Transnistria. The Jews of Romania will never forget these facts of historic importance."[71]
- Italy
Following the Nazi occupation of Italy, when news of the 15 October 1943 round-up of Roman Jews reached the Pope, he instructed Cardinal Maglione to protest to the German Ambassador to "save these innocent people".[24] On 16 October, the Vatican secured the release of 252 children.
- Hungary
Hungary joined the Axis Powers in 1940. Its leader, Admiral Horthy later wavered in support for the Nazi alliance. The Nazis occupied Hungary in March 1944, soon after Horthy, under significant pressure from the church and diplomatic community, had halted the deportations of Hungarian Jews.[99] In October, they installed a pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Dictatorship.
In 1943, the Hungarian resistor, Margit Slachta, of the Hungarian Social Service Sisterhood, went to Rome to encourage papal action against the Jewish persecutions.[99] In Hungary, she had sheltered the persecuted and protested forced labour and antisemitism.[99] In 1944 Pius appealed directly to the Hungarian government to halt the deportation of the Jews of Hungary and his nuncio, Angelo Rotta, led a citywide rescue scheme in Budapest.[24] The Jews of the Hungarian provinces were decimated by the Nazis and their Fascist Hungarian allies, but many of the Jews of Budapest were saved by the extraordinary efforts of the diplomatic corps.
Angelo Rotta, Papal Nuncio from 1930, actively protested Hungary's mistreatment of the Jews, and helped persuade Pope Pius XII to lobby the Hungarian leader Admiral Horthy to stop their deportation.[100] Like the celebrated Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, Rotta became a leader of diplomatic actions to protect Hungarian Jews.[100] With the help of the Hungarian Holy Cross Association, he issued protective passports for Jews and 15,000 safe conduct passes - the nunciature sheltered some 3000 Jews in safe houses.[100] An "International Ghetto" was established, including more than 40 safe houses marked by the Vatican and other national emblems. 25,000 Jews found refuge in these safe houses. Elsewhere in the city, Catholic institutions hid several thousand more Jewish people.[101]
According to Gilbert, "With Arrow Cross members killing Jews in the streets of Budapest, Angelo Rotta, the senior Vatican representative in Budapest, took a lead in establishing an "International Ghetto", consisting of several dozen modern apartment buildings to which large numbers of Jews - eventually 25,000 - were brought and to which the Swiss, Swedish, Portuguese, and Spanish legations, as well as the Vatican, affixed their emblems."[102] Rotta also got permission from the Vatican to begin issuing protective passes to Jewish converts - and was eventually able to distribute more than 15,000 such protective passes, while instructing the drafters of the documents not to examine the recipients credentials too closely.[103] A Red Cross official asked Rotta for pre-signed blank identity papers, to offer to the sick and needy fleeing the Arrow Cross, and was given the documents, along with Rotta's blessing.[104] Rotta encouraged Hungarian church leaders to help their "Jewish brothers", and directed Fr Tibor Baranszky to go to the forced marches and distribute letters of immunity to as many Jews as he could.[103] Baranszky, was executive secretary of the Jewish Protection Movement of the Holy See in Hungary, and was also honoured by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Gentil for saving over 3,000 Jewish lives, acting on the orders of Pope Pius XII.[105]
On 15 November, the Hungarian Government established the "Big Ghetto" for 69,000, while a further 30,000 with protective documents went to the International Ghetto.[103] On 19 November 1944, the Vatican joined the four other neutral powers - Sweden, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland - in a further collective protest to the Hungarian Government calling for the suspension of deportations.[104] The government complied, and banned the "death marches" - but Budapest was by that stage near anarchy, and deportations continued from 21 November. The Arrow Cross continued their orgy of violence, raiding the international Ghetto and murdering Jews, as Soviet forces approached the city. Rotta and Wallenberg were among the few diplomats to remain in Budapest. Following the Soviet conquest of the city, Wallenberg was seized by the Russians and taken to Moscow, from where he was never released. Gilbert wrote that of the hundred and fifty thousand Jews who had been in Budapest when the Germans arrived in March 1944, almost 120,000 survived to liberation - 69,000 from the Big Ghetto, 25,000 in the International Ghetto and a further 25,000 hiding out in Christian homes and religious institutes across the city.[106]
Assessments of Pius XII[edit]
 | This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Needs info on refusal to return Jewish orphans to their relatives citing 2020 insights re Pope Pius XII and the "Finaly Affair". See Talk. (August 2020) |
According to Paul O'Shea, "The Nazis demonised the Pope as the agent of international Jewry; the Americans and British were continually frustrated because he would not condemn Nazi aggression; and the Russians accused him of being an agent of Fascism and the Nazis."[107] Pinchas Lapide, a Jewish theologian and Israeli diplomat to Milan in the 1960s, estimated in Three Popes and the Jews that Pius "was instrumental in saving at least 700,000 but probably as many as 860,000 Jews from certain death at Nazi hands."[108] Some historians, like Gilbert, have questioned this.[109]
Upon the death of Pius XII in 1958, the Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir said: "When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the Pope was raised for the victims. The life of our times was enriched by a voice speaking out on the great moral truths above the tumult of daily conflict. We mourn a great servant of peace."[24] Leading historian of the Holocaust, Sir Martin Gilbert, has said that Pope Pius XII should be declared a "righteous gentile" by Yad Vashem.[110] But his insistence on Vatican neutrality and avoidance of naming the Nazis as the evildoers of the conflict became the foundation for contemporary and later criticisms from some quarters.[111]
Hitler biographer John Toland, while scathing of Pius' cautious public comments in relation to the mistreatment of Jews, concluded that nevertheless, "The Church, under the Pope's guidance, had already saved the lives of more Jews than all other churches, religious institutions and rescue organizations combined...".[112] In 1999, journalist John Cornwell's controversial book Hitler's Pope criticised Pius XII for his actions and inactions during the Holocaust. The Encyclopædia Britannica described Cornwell's depiction of Pius XII as anti-Semitic as lacking "credible substantiation".[113]
In specific riposte to Cornwell's moniker, American Rabbi and historian, David Dalin, published The Myth of Hitler's Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis in 2005. He reaffirmed previous accounts of Pius having been a saviour of thousands of Europe's Jews. Dalin's book also argued that Cornwell and others were liberal Catholics and ex-Catholics who "exploit the tragedy of the Jewish people during the Holocaust to foster their own political agenda of forcing changes on the Catholic Church today" and that Pius XII was responsible for saving the lives of many thousands of Jews.[114]
Susan Zuccotti's Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy (2000) and Michael Phayer's The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930–1965 (2000) and Pius XII, The Holocaust, and the Cold War (2008) provided further critical, though more scholarly analysis of Pius's legacy.[115] Daniel Goldhagen's A Moral Reckoning and David Kerzer's The Pope Against the Jews denounced Pius, while Ralph McInery and José Sanchez wrote more nuanced critical assessments of Pius XII's pontificate.[116]
A number of other scholars replied with favourable accounts of the Pius XII, including Margherita Marchione's Yours Is a Precious Witness: Memoirs of Jews and Catholics in Wartime Italy (1997), Pope Pius XII: Architect for Peace (2000) and Consensus and Controversy: Defending Pope Pius XII (2002); Pierre Blet's Pius XII and the Second World War, According to the Archives of the Vatican (1999); and Ronald J. Rychlak's Hitler, the War and the Pope (2000).[115][117] Ecclesiastical historian William Doino (author of The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII), concluded that Pius was "emphatically not silent".[118]
Episcopal protests[edit]
Various bishops protested the Nazi mistreatment of Jews.
The Netherlands[edit]
On July 11, 1942, the Dutch bishops, joined all Christian denominations in sending a letter to the Nazi General Friedrich Christiansen in protest against the treatment of Jews. The letter was read in all Catholic churches against German opposition. It brought attention to mistreatment of Jews and asked all Christians to pray for them:[119]
Ours is a time of great tribulations of which two are foremost: the sad destiny of the Jews and the plight of those deported for forced labor. … All of us must be aware of the terrible sufferings which both of them have to undergo, due to no guilt of their own. We have learned with deep pain of the new dispositions which impose upon innocent Jewish men, women and children the deportation into foreign lands. … The incredible suffering which these measures cause to more than 10,000 people is in absolute opposition to the divine precepts of justice and charity. … Let us pray to God and for the intercession of Mary … that he may lend his strength to the people of Israel, so severely tried in anguish and persecution
— Protest of the Dutch Bishops, 1942
The protest angered the Nazi authorities and deportations of Jews only increased - including Catholic converts.[57] Many Catholics were involved in strikes and protests against the treatment of Jews, and the Nazis offered to exempt converts and Jews married to non-Jews if protests ceased. The Archbishop of Utrecht and other Catholics refused to comply, and the Nazis commenced a round up of all ethnically Jewish Catholics. Some 40,000 Jews were hidden by the Dutch church and 49 priests killed in the process. Among the Catholics of the Netherlands abducted in this way was Saint Edith Stein who died at Auchwitz.
France[edit]
The French bishops were initially cautious in speaking out against mistreatment of Jews.[120] Cardinal Gerlier said that the treatment of the Jews was bad, but did not take effective action to pressure the Vichy Government.[121]
Following the Velodrom d'Hiver roundup of Jews of July 15, 1942, the Northern assembly of cardinals and archbishops sent a protest letter to Pétain.[122] With the free press silenced, Charles Lederman, a Jewish Communist approached the Archbishop of Toulouse, Jules-Géraud Saliège, to alert public opinion to what was being done to the Jews. He told Saliège of the arrests, kidnappings and deportations. Saliège read his famous Pastoral letter the following Sunday.[121] Other bishops - Monseigneur Théas, Bishop of Montauban, Monseigneur Delay, Bishop of Marseilles, Cardinal Gerlier, Archbishop of Lyon, Monseigneur Vansteenberghe of Bayonne and Monseigneur Moussaron, Archbishop of Albi - also denounced the roundups from the pulpit and through parish distributions, in defiance of the Vichy regime.[122] The protest of the bishops is seen by various historians as a turning point in the formerly passive response of the Catholic Church in France.[123]
Archbishop Saliège of Toulouse wrote to his parishioners: "The Jews are real men and women. Not everything is permitted against these men and women, against these fathers and mothers. They are part of the human species. They are our brothers like so many others. A Christian should not forget this". The words encouraged other clerics like the Capuchin monk Père Marie-Benoît, who saved many Jews in Marseille and later in Rome where he became known among the Jewish community as "father of the Jews".[124] Marie-Rose Gineste transported a pastoral letter from Bishop Théas of Montauban by bicycle to forty parishes, denouncing the uprooting of men and women "treated as wild animals", and the French Resistance smuggled the text to London, where it was broadcast to France by the BBC, reaching tens of thousands of homes.[123]
Belgium[edit]
Cardinal van Roey, the head of the Catholic Church in Belgium intervened with the authorities to rescue Jews, and encouraged various institutions to aid Jewish children. One of his acts of rescue was to open a geriatric centre in which Jews were housed, at which kosher Jewish cooks would be required who could therefore be given special passes protecting them from deportation.[125]
Croatia[edit]
In Croatia, the Vatican's apostolic visitor Giuseppe Marcone, together with Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac of Zagreb pressured the Pavelić regime to cease its facilitation of race murders.[126] In the Spring of 1942, following a meeting with Pius XII in Rome, Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac of Zagreb declared publicly that it was "forbidden to exterminate Gypsies and Jews because they are said to belong to an inferior race".[82] In July and October 1943, Stepinac denounced race murders in the most explicit terms, and had his denunciation read from pulpits across Croatia.[127]
When Schutzstaffel chief Heinrich Himmler visited Zagreb in 1943, indicating the impending roundup of remaining Jews, Stepinac wrote Pavelic that if this occurred, he would protest for "the Catholic Church is not afraid of any secular power, whatever it may be, when it has to protect basic human values". When deportatation began, Stepinac and Marcone protested to Andrija Artukovic.[74] According to Phayer, the Vatican ordered Stepinac to save as many Jews as possible during the upcoming roundup.[83] Though Stepinac personally saved many potential victims, his protests had little effect on Pavelić.[126]
Slovakia[edit]
Bishop Pavel Gojdic protested the persecution of Slovak Jews. Gojdic was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001 and recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 2007.[128]
Hungary[edit]
In Hungary, the Vatican and the Papal Nuncio Angelo Rotta lobbied the Horthy government to protect the country's Jews, while leading church figures involved in the 1944 rescue of Hungarian Jews included Bishops Vilmos Apor, Endre Hamvas and Áron Márton. Primate József Mindszenty issued public and private protests and was arrested on 27 October 1944.[129][130]
Following the October 1944 Arrow Cross takeover of Hungary, Bishop Vilmos Apor (who had been an active protester against the mistreatment of the Jews), together with other senior clergy including József Mindszenty, drafted a memorandum of protest against the Arrow Cross government.[129] Cardinal Jusztinián György Serédi also spoke out against the Nazi persecution.[131]
Catholic networks[edit]
Direct action by Catholic institutions saved hundreds of thousands of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust.[39] Priests and nuns of orders like the Jesuits, Franciscans and Benedictines hid children in monasteries, convents and schools.[3] In Poland, the unique Zegota organisation rescued thousands, while In France, Belgium, and Italy, underground networks run by Catholic clergy and lay people were particularly active and saved thousands of Jews - particularly in southern France, and in northern Italy.[4]
Netherlands[edit]
During the Nazi Occupation of the Netherlands, when Jewish deportations began, many were hidden in Catholic areas. Parish priests created networks for hiding Jews and close knit country parishes were able to hide Jews without being informed upon by neighbours, as occurred in the cities.[132] Gilbert wrote, "as in every country under German occupation, so in Holland, local priests played a major part in rescuing Jews".[133]Archbishop De Jong played a major role in the resistance against the Nazis. He kept address info on hidden Jewish children in the vaults of his palace. Also, the RC church protested regularly against the persecution of Jews in Holland. That sometimes led to persecution of converted Jews, such as sister Edith Stein. In the province of Limburg, 88 priest were deported and killed - more than from the Dutch other provinces together.[134]Some priests were killed during their arrests, such as father Harry Koopmans in Den Bosch. Relatively, the Dutch received the most recognitions per capita from Yad Vashem for saving Jews compared to all other occupied countries, namely some 5,900 on a total of 26,000 (the Poles received more with 6,200).
Belgium[edit]
Dislike of Germans and Nazism was strong in Belgium, and self-help by Jews was well organised.[135] Following the occupation of Belgium, the Belgian Catholic Church played an important role in the defence of Jews.[136] About 3000 Jews were hidden in Belgian convents during the Nazi occupation. 48 Belgian nuns have been honoured as Righteous among the Nations.[137] Others so honoured include the Superior General of the Jesuits, Jean-Baptiste Janssens.[138]
Many Belgian convents and monasteries sheltered Jewish children, pretending that they were Christian - among them the Franciscan Sisters in Bruges, the Sisters of Don Bosco in Courtrai, the Sisters of St Mary near Brussels, the Dominican Sisters at Lubbeek and others. Fr Joseph Andre of Namur found shelter for around 100 children in convents, returning them to Jewish community leaders after the war. Andre was very active in the rescue of Jews, handing over his own bed to Jewish refugees, and finding families to hide them, and distributing food as well as communications between families. He is credit with saving some 200 lives, and was forced into hiding in the final stages of the war.[139]
The Benedictine monk, Dom Bruno (Henri Reynders), was active with the Belgian Resistance and organised escape routes for downed allied pilots and for Belgian Jews. Jews were hidden in monasteries, schools and the homes of Catholics at Dom Bruno's request. He was declared Righteous Among the Nations by Israel in 1964.[140] He is credited with finding refuge for 320 Jewish children, and developed a disdain for Nazi anti-Semitism when exposed to it on a 1938 visit to Germany. He was captured as a prisoner of war while serving as an army chaplain in 1940, and in 1942 was sent by the head of the Benedictines to a Home for the Blind, operating as a front for hiding Jews. From small beginnings assisting families, assisted by Albert Van den Berg Dom Bruno's rescue efforts grew, dispersing hundreds.[141] Van den Berg secured refuge for the Grand Rabbi of Liege and his elderly parents at the Cappuchin Banneux home, cared for by monks.[142] Bruno rejoined the Belgian Army as a chaplain after Liberation.[143]
The Belgian Resistance viewed the defence of Jews as a central part of its activities. The Comité de Défense des Juifs (CDJ) was formed to work for the defence of Jews in the summer of 1942, and of its eight founding members, seven were Jewish and one, Emile Hambresin was Catholic. Some of their rescue operations were overseen by the priests Joseph André and Dom Bruno. Among other institutions, the CDJ enlisted the help of monasteries and religious schools and hospitals. Yvonne Nèvejean of the Oeuvre Nationale de l'Enfance greatly assisted with the hiding of Jewish children.[121] According to Gilbert, over four and a half thousands Jewish children were given refuge in Christian families, convents, boarding schools, orphanages and sanatoriums because of the efforts of Nèvejean.
Among them were the sisters, (Rosa) Regina and (Stella) Estelle Feld of Antwerp. Their father, Abraham Feld, was arrested and sent directly to Auschwitz where he was murdered and cremated immediately on arrival. Their mother, Leah (Leni) Schwimmerova Felt, placed her daughter's in the care of nuns who helped hide them for the entire course of the war with farm families, in Catholic orphanages and schools. Leah was later arrested and taken to Auschwitz where she too was murdered. After the war, they were reunited with an uncle, Samuel Feld, who came from Scranton, PA to adopt them and bring them to the USA.
The Queen Mother Elizabeth and Léon Platteau of the Interior Ministry also made a stance to protect Jews.[144]
Fr. Hubert Célis of Halmaal was arrested for harbouring Jewish children, but was released after confronting his interrogator with the following words: "You are a Catholic, and have forgotten that the Virgin was a Jewess, that Christ was Jewish, that He commanded us to love and help one another... That He told us: 'I have given you an example so that you do as I have done'... You are a Catholic, and you do not understand what a priest is! You do not understand that a priest does not betray!".[124]
Hungary[edit]
The Hungarian Regent, Admiral Horthy, though allied to Hitler, did not adopt Nazi racial ideology, and Hungarian Jews were not subject to deportations to death camps through 1942-3.[145] The Nazis occupied Hungary in 1944, and commenced widescale deportations of Jews.[146] The process began in with Jews sent to Ghettos, and though local leaders of the Catholic, Protestant Reform Churches tried to help the Jews, Jews from all across Hungary outside of Budapest were deported to Auchwitz.[147]
As rumour spread of the murder of the deportees, the Hungarian Ministry for the Interior criticised clergymen for issuing fake baptismal certificates. On June 26, 1944, confirmation of the mass murder at Auchwitz spurred the neutral powers in Budapest - including the Vatican - into action, and sought to thwart Nazi efforts to exterminate the Jews, by issuing protective visas. The virulently anti-Semitic Arrow Cross seized power in October, and the murderous campaign against the Jews was re-opened. Papal Nunico Angelo Rotta led the neutral diplomats in establishing an "international Ghetto" under their protection.[148] Rotta also encouraged Hungarian church leaders to help their "Jewish brothers", and directed Fr Tibor Baranszky to go to the forced marches and distribute letters of immunity to as many Jews as he could.[149]
Local church men and women were also prominent in rescue efforts. Jesuit Prior Jakab Raile is credited with saving around 150 in the Jesuit residence of the city.[102] Margit Slachta of the Hungarian Social Service Sisterhood, told her sisters that the precepts of their faith demanded that they protect the Jews, even if it led to their own deaths. Slachta responded immediately to reports in 1940 of early displacement of Jews. When in 1941, 20,000 Jewish labourers were deported, Slachta protested to the wife of Admiral Horthy. Following the Nazi occupation, Slachta's sisters arranged baptisms in the hope it would spare people from deportation, sent food and supplies to the Jewish ghettos, and sheltered people in their convents.[146] One of Slachta's sisters, The Blessed Sára Salkaházi, was among those captured sheltering the Jews, and executed.[150] Slachta herself was beaten and only narrowly avoided execution. The sisters rescued probably more than 2000 Hungarian Jews.[146]
In his study of the rescuers of the Jews, Martin Gilbert recounts that the monks of the Champagnat Institute of the Order of Mary in Budapest took in 100 children and 50 parents as boarders. Discovered, the Jews were killed, and six monks tortured, but released.[151] Similar numbers were protected and then discovered in the convents of the Sisters of the Divine Saviour and the Order of the Divine Love, with many of the Jews dragged out and murdered by the Arrow Cross.[151] The prioress of the Sisters of the Eucharistic Union was captured and tortured for sheltering Jews in her hospital. Despite warnings, she resumed her rescue efforts in the apartment of the Prelate Arnold Pataky.[151] Hundreds more Jews were saved at the Convent of the Good Shepherd, the home of the Sisters of Mercyof Szatmar and the Convent of Sacre Coeur.[151]
Baltic States[edit]
In Lithuania, priests were active in the rescue of Jews, among them Fr Dambrauskas of Alsėdžiai (who acted against the wishes of his bishop), Bronius Paukštys of Kaunas, Fr Lapis from Šiauliai and Fr Jonas Gylys of Varėna, who delivered sermons against the killing of Jews, and sought to comfort Jews marked for murder.[152]
In Scandinavia, the Catholic presence was small, but here the Christian Churches firmly opposed the deportations of Jews - Church of Norway bishops gave stern warnings, and the Danish Churches published strong protests and urged their congregations to assist Jews. A unique operation in Denmark saw almost all of Denmark's Jews smuggled into Sweden and safety.[153]
Poland and the Zegota Council to Aid Jews[edit]
Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe before World War II. There were 3,500,000 Jews living in the Second Republic, about 10% of the general population. Between the German invasion of Poland in 1939, and the end of World War II, over 90% of Polish Jewry perished.[154] Nevertheless, more Jews were rescued by Catholic Poles, than in any other nation. According to Davies, the number of Jews saved by Poles is conservatively estimated at 100,000–150,000.[155] The number of sheltered Jews according to Lukas was "as high as 450,000" at one time.[154] Professor Tomasz Strzembosz put the total number of Catholic Poles saving Jews at 1 million.[156] Among the 108 Martyrs of World War II beatified in 1999 by Pope John Paul II,[157] prominent place belongs to religious people murdered by Nazi Germany for saving Jews. Several hundred Christian Poles were summarily shot in open pits for sheltering Jews in the vicinity of the Słonim Ghetto along with their priest, Adam Sztark. Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary were arrested and executed the following day for hiding Jewish children in their convent.[citation needed] Marta Kazimiera Wołowska,[158] the superior of the convent, and Bogumiła Noiszewska,[158] a doctor, were beatified by Pope John Paul II together with priest Adam Sztark. They were killed at the same time.[159][160] In 2001, Sztark became the first Jesuit ever awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the state of Israel. He used to deliver food to the ghetto, purchased with cash donations from his parishioners. He also issued false certificates, personally sheltered Jewish refugees, and called upon all his congregation to help to save the ghetto residents.[157][161][162]
The memorial at Belzec death camp commemorates 600,000 murdered Jews, and 1,500 Poles who tried to save Jews.[164] To date, 7,112[165] Catholic Poles have been honoured as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem - constituting the largest national contingent.[166] Hundreds of clergymen and nuns were involved in aiding Poland's Jews during the war, though precise numbers are difficult to confirm.[167] From 1941, such aid carried the death penalty.[168] Up to 50,000 Poles were executed by Nazi Germany solely as penalty for saving Jews.[154] Gilbert notes that, in relation to the development of Poland's Jewish rescue networks, Yisrael Gutman wrote that "One particular sector of the intelligentsia - comprising both men of progressive views and devout Catholics who worked with unrelenting devotion to rescue Jews - was of singular importance" and from these circles grew Zegota, the Council for the Assistance to the Jews.
A number of Bishops provided aid to Polish Jews, notably Karol Niemira, the Bishop of Pinsk, who cooperated with the underground organization maintaining ties with the Jewish Ghetto and sheltered Jews in the Archbishop's residence.[167] Oskar Schindler, a German Catholic businessman came to Poland, initially to profit from the German invasion. He went on to save many Jews, as dramatised in the film Schindler's List.[39] Gilbert notes various Polish nuns honoured by Yad Vashem for sheltering Jews in their convents, and of the work of Polish priests in supplying fake baptismal certificates, of the work of parish priests like one of Nowt Dyor, who was tortured and beaten to death for protecting a Jewish girl, and Fr. Marceli Godlewski, who opened his crypt to Jews escaping the Ghetto.[170] In Kolonia Wilenska, Sister Anna Borkowska hid men from the Jewish underground from the Vilna ghetto.[124]
The Jews of Warsaw, who prior to the war numbered some half a million people, were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940. By November 1941, the Nazi governor of the city had decreed that the death penalty would be applied with utmost severity to those sheltering or aiding Jews in any way.[171] Matylda Getter, mother superior of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary took the decision to offer shelter to any Jewish children who could escape the Ghetto.[172] Getter's convent was located at the entrance to the Ghetto. When the Nazis commenced the clearing of the Ghetto in 1941, Getter took in many orphans and dispersed them among Family of Mary homes. As the Nazis began sending orphans to the gas chambers, Getter issued fake baptismal certificates, providing the children with false identities. Living in daily fear of the Germans, the Family of Mary rescued more than 750 Jews.[146]
When AK Home Army Intelligence discovered the true fate of transports leaving the Jewish Ghetto, the Council to Aid Jews - Rada Pomocy Żydom (codename Zegota) was established in late 1942, in co-operation with church groups. The organisation saved thousands. Emphasis was placed on protecting children, as it was near impossible to intervene directly against the heavily guarded transports. False papers were prepared, and children were distributed among safe houses and church networks.[173] Jewish children were often placed in church orphanages and convents.[174] Poland was the only country in occupied Europe where such an organisation was established.[174] Zegota was instigated by the writer Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Catholic democrat activists.[175] Two women founded the movement, the Catholic writer and activist, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, and the socialist Wanda Filipowicz. Some of its members have been involved in Polish nationalist movements who were themselves anti-Jewish, but who were appalled by the barbarity of the Nazi mass murders. In an emotive protest prior to the foundation of the Council, Kossak wrote that Hitler's race murders were a crime of which it was not possible to remain silent. While Polish Catholics might still feel Jews were "enemies of Poland", Kossak wrote that protest was required.[176]
God requires this protest from us, God who does not allow murder. It is required of a Catholic conscience. Each being, calling itself human, has a right to brotherly love. The blood of the innocent calls for vengeance to the heavens. He, who does not support this protest - is not Catholic
— 1942 protest of Zofia Kossak-Szczucka of Zegota
Wladyslawa Choms, "The Angel of Lvov", headed Zegota in Lvov, helped by the Church and the Home Army. She described the Catholic clergy as "invaluable" to the effort, for they supplied blank baptismal certificates from which to create false documents.[177] Wladyslaw Bartoszewski (aka "Teofil"), a co-founder of Zegota, had worked with the Catholic underground movement, the Front for the Rebirth of Poland, and was arrested in a 1940 Nazi purge of the intelligentsia, and sent to Auchwitz. Freed seven months later following pressure from the international Red Cross, Bartoszewski helped Zegota in its rescue efforts. Explaining his motivation, he later said: "I was raised a Catholic and we were taught to love our neighbour. I was doing what the Bible taught."[178] He was recognised as Righteous Among the Nations in 1963.[166] As head of Zegota's children's section, Irena Sendlerowa placed more that two thousands five hundred Jewish children in convents, orphanages, schools, hospitals and homes. She was captured by the Gestapo in 1943, and crippled by torture.[179]
In the 1948-9 Zegota Case, the Stalin-backed regime established in Poland after the war secretly tried and imprisoned the leading survivors of Zegota, as part of a campaign to eliminate and besmirch Catholic resistance heroes who might threaten the new regime.[180] Bartoszewski was imprisoned until 1954.[166]
France[edit]
Many French clergy and religious have been honoured by Yad Vashem, and, wrote Gilbert "Many priests and nuns, and Catholic institutions throughout France did what they could to save Jews from deportation".[181] The first deportation of Jews from Paris occurred on 27 March 1942. Mostly Polish-born, they were taken to Auchwitz. Deportations continued through the following months, and intensified in August. Gilbert wrote that, "Senior church figures took a leading role: just south of Lyons, Protestant and Catholic clerics, including Cardinal Gerlier, the Archbishop of Lyons, joined forces with Jewish resistance groups to ding hiding places for five hundred adults and more than a hundred children... Not only Cardinal Gerlier, but also his Secretary, Monsieigneur Jean-Baptiste Maury... were honoured [by Yad Vashem] for their acts of rescue."[182] Thousands of priests, monks, nuns, and lay people performed acts of charity toward the persecuted Jews of France.[122] On 28 August 1942, the Germans ordered the arrest of all Catholic priests sheltering Jews.[183]
The Times reported that Cardinal Gerlier had defiantly refused to surrender Jewish children being sheltered in Catholic homes, and that multiple arrests had been made, including of Jesuits who had been sheltering hundreds of children. The Vatican denounced the treatment of Jews in France to the Vichy French ambassador to the Holy See.[184] Monsignor Gabriel Piguet, the Bishop of Clermont-Ferrand, allowed Jewish children to be hidden from the Nazis at the Saint Marguerite Catholic boarding school in Clermont-Ferrand and was arrested in his Cathedral on 28 May 1944. He was deported to Dachau Concentration Camp in September.[185] At Dachau, Piguet presided over the secret ordination of The Blessed Karl Leisner.[186]
Two thirds of the 300,000 Jews living in France at the outbreak of war survived the Nazi holocaust.[187] Thousands of priests, nuns and lay people acted to assist French Jews. The majority of French Jews survived the occupation, in large part thanks to the help received from Catholics and Protestants, who protected them in convents, boarding schools, presbyteries and families.[122] The Amitiés Chrétiennes organisation operated out of Lyon to secure hiding places for Jewish children. Among its members were the Jesuit Pierre Chaillet and Alexandre Glasberg, a priest formerly of the Jewish faith.[121] The influential French theologian Henri de Lubac was active in the resistance to Nazism and to antisemitism. He assisted in the publication of Témoinage chrétien with Pierre Chaillet. He responded to Neo-paganism and antisemitism with clarity, describing the notion of an Aryan New Testament standing in contradiction to a Semitic Old Testament as "blasphemy" and "stupidity". In 1988, Lubac returned to writing about the era in Résistance chrétienne à l'antisémitisme, souvenirs 1940-1944 (Christian Resistance to Antisemitism: Memories from 1940-1944)[188]
Mother Superiors of many convents provided safe haven to many French Jews. Agnes Walsh, a British Daughter of Charity who spent the war in occupied France was recognised as Righteous among the Nations for her sheltering of a Jewish family in her convent from 1943.[124][189] The Archbishop of Nice Paul Remond, who facilitated underground activities hiding Jewish children in convents till they could be given safely to Christian families.[190] The Carmelite monk, Lucien Bunel (Jacques de Jesus), who was sent to the Mauthausen Death Camp for sheltering three Jewish boys at his school (dramatised in the 1987 film Au revoir les enfants, made by Louis Malle, one of his former pupils). Bunel had opened his church to refugees fleeing Nazi persecution and hired a Jewish teacher fired under discriminatory laws. He died of exhaustion days after Liberation.[124][189] Although Bunel was able to inform his senior students of the Jewish identity of the boys and the secret was kept, a former pupil who had joined the resistance revealed under torture that it was Bunel who had put him in contact with the resistance.[181]
On the Swiss border, various priests and parishes helped Jews escape to safety.[191] Raymond Boccard and other priests assisted hundreds of refugees, including many Jews across the border into Switzerland.[189] Abbé Simon Gallay hid Jews at Evian-les-Bains, and assisted passage to Switzerland, until arrested and deported to Germany never to return.[191]
Italy[edit]
Despite the Italian Dictator's Mussolini's close alliance with Hitler's Germany, Italy did not adopt Nazism's genocidal ideology towards the Jews. The Nazis were frustrated by the Italian forces refusal to co-operate in the round ups of Jews, and no Jews were deported from Italy prior to the Nazi occupation of the country following the Italian capitulation in 1943.[192] In Italian occupied Croatia, Nazi envoy Siegfried Kasche advised Berlin that Italian forces had "apparently been influenced" by Vatican opposition to German anti-Semitism.[193] As anti-Axis feeling grew in Italy, the use of Vatican Radio to broadcast papal disapproval of race murder and anti-Semitism angered the Nazis.[194] Mussolini was overthrown in July 1943, and the Nazi moved to occupy Italy, and commenced a round-up of Jews. Though thousands were caught, the great majority of Italy's Jews were saved. As in other nations, Catholic networks were heavily engaged in rescue efforts.
According to Martin Gilbert, the Pope had helped the Jews of Rome in September 1943, by offering whatever amounts of gold might be needed towards the 50 kg ransom demanded by the Nazis. At the same time, wrote Gilbert, the Capuchin Father Benoit had saved large numbers of Jews by providing them with false identification papers, helped by the Swiss, Hungarian, Rumanian and French embassies, and a number of Italian officials. A few days before the October 15/16 roundup, Pius XII personally directed Vatican clergy to open the sanctuaries of the Vatican to all "non-Aryans" in need of refuge.[195] 4715 of the 5715 Roman Jews listed for deportation by the Nazis were sheltered in 150 institutions - 477 in the Vatican itself. As German round-ups continued in Northern Italy, the Pope opened his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, to take in thousands of Jews and authorised institutions across the north to do the same.[24]
Gilbert wrote that, in October 1943, with the SS occupying Rome and determined to deport the city's 5000 Jews, the Vatican clergy had opened the sanctuaries of the Vatican to all "non-Aryans" in need of rescue in an attempt to forestall the deportation. "Catholic clergy in the city acted with alacrity", wrote Gilbert. "At the Capuchin convent on the Via Siciliano, Father Benoit, under the name of Father Benedetti, saved a large numbers of Jews by providing them with false identification papers [...] by the morning of October 16, a total of 4,238 Jews had been given sanctuary in the many monasteries and convents of Rome. A further 477 Jews had been given shelter in the Vatican and its enclaves." Gilbert credited the "rapid rescue efforts" of the Church as saving over four fifths of Roman Jews that morning.[196] Il Collegio San Giuseppe - Istituto De Merode, like other Roman Catholic schools, hid numerous Jewish children and adults among its students and Brothers.[197][198]
From his Vatican office, and in co-operation with Pius XII,[65] Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irishman, operated an escape operation for Jews and Allied escapees. The Irish Independent credited him with having saved more than 6,500 people during the war.[66] From 1943, he began to offer shelter to allied servicemen seeking sanctuary in the Vatican. Using fake documents and a clandestine communications network, O'Flaherty defied the Gestapo's war criminal commander of Rome, Herbert Kappler, and evaded capture through the German occupation of Rome. O'Flaherty's '"Rome Escape Line" hid British and American soldiers and Jews in safe houses around the city.[66] Kappler had a white line drawn around the boundary of the Vatican and offered a bounty on O'Flaherty's head. O'Flaherty forgave Kappler after the war, and became a regular visitor to his prison cell - eventually presiding at his conversion to Catholicism. O'Flaherty's story was dramatised in the 1983 film The Scarlet and the Black and Ireland honours his work with the Hugh O'Flaherty International Humanitarian Award.[199][200]
Swedish born Elisabeth Hesselblad was listed among the "Righteous" by Yad Vashem for her religious institute's work assisting Jews.[201] She and two British women, Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough and Sister Katherine Flanagan have been beatified for reviving the Swedish Bridgettine Order of nuns and hiding scores of Jewish families in their convent during Rome's period of occupation under the Nazis.[202]
The churches, monasteries and convents of Assisi formed the Assisi Network and served as a safe haven for Jews. Gilbert credits the network established by Bishop Giuseppe Placido Nicolini and Abbott Rufino Niccaci of the Franciscan Monastery, with saving 300 people.[203] When the Nazis began rounding up Jews, Monsignor Nicolini, Bishop of Assisi, ordered Father Aldo Brunacci to lead a rescue operation and arranged sheltering places in 26 monasteries and convents, and providing false papers for transit. Respect for Jewish religious practices saw Yom Kippur celebrated at Assisi in 1943, with nuns preparing the meal to end the fast.[204] Other Italian clerics honoured by Yad Vashem include the theology professor Fr Giuseppe Girotti of Dominican Seminary of Turin, who saved many Jews before being arrested and sent to Dacau where he died in 1945; Fr Arrigo Beccari who protected around 100 Jewish children in his seminary and among local farmers in the village of Nonantola in Central Italy; and Don Gaetano Tantalo, a parish priest who sheltered a large Jewish family.[124][205][206] Of Italy's 44,500 Jews, some 7,680 were murdered in the Nazi Holocaust.[207]
See also[edit]
- Catholic resistance to Nazism
- Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust
- Pius XII and the German Resistance
- List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust
- Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust
- Catholic Church and Nazi Germany
- Catholic Church and Nazi Germany during World War II
- Catholic clergy involvement with the Ustaše
- Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church
References[edit]
- ^ Vincent A. Lapomarda; The Jesuits and the Third Reich; 2nd Edn, Edwin Mellen Press; 2005; p.3
- ^ Richard J. Evans; The Third Reich at War; 2008 pp. 529–30
- ^ a b Martin Gilbert; The Righteous: the Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust; Holt Paperback; New York; 2004; Preface
- ^ a b "Rescue". Ushmm.org. Retrieved 16 October 2014. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^ Theodore S. Hamerow; On the Road to the Wolf's Lair - German Resistance to Hitler; Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1997; ISBN 0-674-63680-5; p.210
- ^ a b c Ian Kershaw; The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation; 4th Edn; Oxford University Press; New York; 2000"; pp. 210–11
- ^ a b Ian Kershaw; The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation; 4th Edn; Oxford University Press; New York; 2000; pp. 211–212
- ^ Theodore S. Hamerow; On the Road to the Wolf's Lair - German Resistance to Hitler; Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1997; ISBN 0-674-63680-5; p. 136
- ^ Hamerow, 1997, p. 138
- ^ Blainey, 2011, pp. 499–502
- ^ Hamerow, 1997, p. 74
- ^ Phayer, Michael. 2000. The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930–1965. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-33725-9; p 77
- ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Michael von Faulhaber; web Apr. 2013.
- ^ Theodore S. Hamerow; On the Road to the Wolf's Lair - German Resistance to Hitler; Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1997; ISBN 0-674-63680-5; p. 140
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Lukas, Richard C. (2001). The forgotten Holocaust: the Poles under German occupation, 1939-1944. Hippocrene Books. p. 13. ISBN 9780781809016. - ^ Davies, Norman (2008) [2003]. Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw. Pan Macmillan / Viking. p. 200. ISBN 978-0330475747.
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Beatified with 108 martyrs of World War II by Pope John Paul II, in Warsaw, on June 13, 1999.
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- ^ Martin Gilbert; The Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy; Collins; London; 1986; p.466
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Sources[edit]
- Phayer, Michael (2000). The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930–1965. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
- Phayer, Michael (2008). Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253349309.
- Gilbert, Martin (2002). The Righteous - The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-60100-X.
External links[edit]
- Resisting on the Basis of Catholic Beliefs; The German Resistance Memorial Centre.
- Encyclopædia Britannica - Reflections on the Holocaust: Pius XII
- The Record of Pius XII's Opposition to Hitler; published by CatholicCulture.Org
- "They Must Never Be Forgotten: Priests and Nuns Who Rescued People From the Holocaust" published by Catholic Education Resource Centre.
- Catholic Martyrs of the Holocaust published by Catholic Education Resource Centre
- The Record of Pius XII's Opposition to Hitler; published by CatholicCulture.org
- The Myth of Hitler's Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis; a talk by Rabbi David Dalin on YouTube.
- The Rescue of Jewish Children in Polish Convents During the Holocaust; Nahum Bogner; Yad Vashem.
