ROMAN CATHOLICISM (CATHOLICISM)(Vatican)(CATHOLIC CHURCH)(Pius XII)
The role played by the Christian churches during the Nazi period is a basic issue in the study of the Holocaust. The destruction of European Jewry occurred on predominantly Christian soil. For the most part, the perpetrators were at least nominally Christian, a great many of the bystanders were practising Christians, and Christian anti-Judaism is a root of the Holocaust.
A Political Agreement with the Nazis
Catholic attitudes toward the Nazi persecution of the Jews were ambivalent. The Reich Concordat of July 1933 and German Catholic support for the regime's authoritarian and nationalist stances, gave rise to widespread illusions about the nature of Hitler's rule. This early collaboration pre-empted opposition when the Nazis increasingly persecuted the Church and the Jews.
German Catholics
Despite the condemnation of Nazism by Pope Pius XI in 1937, German Catholic sympathy for Jews was evident only in individual cases. In the face of the Nuremberg Laws (1935) and the Kristallnacht pogrom (1938), there was silent acquiescence. In contrast to their strong protests against the Euthanasia Program, during the war no such action was taken on behalf of the Jews in general. Limited support was given only to converts to Catholicism and Jewish partners in mixed marriages.
The Vatican
Pope Pius XII sought a peaceful settlement. His pronouncements about the suffering of war victims were general and omitted direct condemnation of the perpetrators, in the belief that diplomacy would be more effective than open protest. Illusions about the Nazis were shed reluctantly, and together with German Catholic reticence and the weakness of the papal nuncio in Berlin, contributed to the Vatican's stance. Interventions on behalf of the victims of war were made to German satellites, which were more amenable to papal pressures, and contributed to saving a minority of the Jews in these states. Efforts to secure entry of Jews into Catholic countries succeeded modestly, but the combatant powers' frustration of most humanitarian acts induced pessimism and caution, and revealed the restricted influence of the Catholic Church. Unwillingness to admit this impotence accompanied failure to grasp the extent of Nazi atrocities.
Local Church Response
Throughout Nazi-dominated Europe, Catholic reactions were highly varied. In Italy, both the Vatican and the clergy played a significant role in helping and hiding Jews. In France, there was widespread indifference to the plight of the Jews, although many younger clergy assisted them to express resistance to the Nazis. The Catholic hierarchy was divided, but after the occupation of southern France, offered more support. In Poland, the Nazi persecution campaign exploited Catholic antipathy to the Jews. The isolation and later annihilation of the Jews, and the oppression of the Catholic clergy, precluded Public Protest. Nevertheless, rescue attempts were made, particularly to save children. In Slovakia - whose president Jozef Tiso was a priest and whose parliament included many clergymen - the government approved harsh measures, including deportation. Slovak Catholics eventually demonstrated more sympathy under pressure from the Vatican. In Hungary, apathy marked the stance of the Catholic population and hierarchy. In Croatia, many priests took part in the murder. Local leaders only condemned the murder in mid-1943. The Vatican also only issued mild condemnations until Allied victory was assured, and it denounced the atrocities in stronger terms. In the Netherlands, a protest by the bishops in 1942 led to an intensification of anti-Jewish measures and intimidated further public steps. Numerous rescue efforts on an individual basis, however, ensued. In Belgium, the Catholic clergy also took many steps to help Jews. But on the whole, centuries of being taught contempt for the Jews had inured Catholics throughout the world to regarding them as outside their circle of obligation.
