Persecution of the Jews during the pontificate of Pius XIIPope Pius XII represents possibly the most dramatic case of transformation in public perception in the 20th century. As historian and journalist Sven Felix Kellerhoff points out, "there is probably no other historical figure of world rank who, like Eugenio Pacelli, went in such a short time after his death from being a widely respected role model to a person condemned by the majority."
During his lifetime and at the time of his death on October 9, 1958, Pius XII enjoyed unquestionable international prestige, reflected in such events as his appearance on the cover of Time with the quote "The work of Justice is Peace". In Germany streets and avenues were dedicated to him, while Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir described him as "a great friend of the people of Israel".
The Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, who later converted to Catholicism and adopted the name Eugene in honor of the Pope, defended this position: "No hero in history has commanded such a combative army as the one that Pius XII mobilized against Hitler. He led a bloodless but relentless battle". The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Isaac Herzog, expressed in 1944: "The people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness is doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters in this most tragic hour". The Union of Italian Jewish Communities even minted a gold medal in his honor.
Pius XII, Hitler's Pope?
However, this perception underwent a radical change shortly thereafter, to the point that, in 1999, John Cornwell published a book entitled "Hitler's Pope". The origin of the black legend about Pope Pacelli can be precisely located: February 20, 1963, the date of the premiere of the play "The Vicar" by Rolf Hochhuth. This play presented Pius XII as an unscrupulous cynic who, obsessed with fighting communism, had justified and even supported Nazi actions. Anyone who is surprised that a play could have such an impact underestimates the power of fiction; think, for example, of "The Da Vinci Code".
Historical reality, however, contradicts this characterization head-on. As early as 1924, when he was Apostolic Nuncio in Munich, Pacelli showed exceptional foresight when he telegraphed to the Vatican Secretariat of State: "National Socialism is the gravest heresy of our time. This statement is especially significant considering that, at the time, the Church identified communism as its main threat.
The Nazi leaders themselves considered him one of their most dangerous enemies. Joseph Goebbels, in his diary, mentions Pius XII more than a hundred times, always in a warning tone. For example, regarding the 1939 papal Christmas address, Goebbels noted: "Full of very scathing and hidden attacks on us, on the Reich and National Socialism.
The act of protest
A crucial moment in Pacelli's opposition to the Nazi regime came during his time as Secretary of State under the pontificate of Pius XI. He was one of the principal architects of the landmark encyclical "Mit brennender Sorge"The title of the encyclical was personally modified by him, replacing the word "großer" ("With great concern") with "brennender" ("With burning concern"). This encyclical, the only one written in a language other than Latin, was the most significant act of protest during the twelve years of the Nazi regime. Its clandestine distribution in Germany allowed its simultaneous reading from the pulpits of numerous Catholic churches.
The Nazi retaliation was immediate and severe: in addition to the systematic burning of copies, more than 1,100 priests were arrested and 304 of them were deported to Dachau. These events left an indelible mark on the conscience of Pacelli, who understood that public challenges to the Nazi regime could have devastating consequences for Catholics.
Pius XII and the Jewish refugees
During the German occupation of RomeBetween September 10, 1943 and June 4, 1944, the direct intervention of Pius XII was crucial for the salvation of the Roman Jews. The Pope ordered to open not only the cloistered convents, but also the Vatican and his summer residence in Castelgandolfo to give refuge to the persecuted. The figures speak for themselves: 4,238 Roman Jews found refuge in 155 convents in the city, another 477 were taken in at the Vatican, and approximately 3,000 more found protection at Castelgandolfo.
In the papal room itself, several pregnant Jewish women gave birth; about 40 children were born there, and many were given the name Eugene or Pius in gratitude. As historian Michael Hesemann points out: "In no country in Europe occupied by the Nazis did such a high percentage of Jews survive as in Italy; in no other city were there as many as in Rome, thanks to Pius XII and his prudent initiative".
Critics who accuse Pius XII of not having sufficiently protested to the Nazi authorities ignore the counterproductive consequences that such protests could have. The most illustrative case is that of the Catholic bishop of Utrecht in August 1942: his public protest against the deportation of Jews in the Netherlands provoked the Nazis to include Catholics of Jewish origin in the deportations. Among the victims was Edith Stein, a convert from Judaism to Christianity and a Carmelite nun.
Already in 1942 Pius XII commented to his confidant Don Pirro Scavizzi: "A protest on my part would not only have been of no help to anyone, but would have unleashed anger against the Jews and multiplied the atrocities. Perhaps it would have aroused the praises of the civilized world, but to the poor Jews it would only have produced a more atrocious persecution than the one they suffered".
A historical research
Following the publication of "Le Bureau - Les juifs de Pie XII" (Italian edition: "Pio XII e gli ebrei") by Johan Ickx, director of the Historical Archives of the Department for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, both the successes and limitations of Vatican diplomacy during World War II have been revealed. Ickx has analyzed documents from the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958), opened for research in March 2020. In its 400 pages divided into 18 chapters, he documents the extensive network of escape routes for persecuted people organized by the Pope, along with a network of clerics distributed throughout Europe whose sole purpose was to save lives.
One of Ickx's most important revelations is that Pius XII established, at the beginning of the war, a specific unit in the Secretariat of State dedicated exclusively to handling requests for help from persecuted Jews in Europe. This "office" centralized information on deportations, roundups and the systematic extermination in Nazi concentration camps. Documentation shows that this office acted under direct instructions from the Pope. Ickx draws a parallel with "Schindler's list", calling it the "Pacelli list", although he recognizes that the creation of a dossier did not guarantee a successful intervention in every case.
A significant example was the protest of Monsignor Cesare Orsenigo, Eugenio Pacelli's successor as Apostolic Nuncio in Berlin, to the German authorities in April 1940 about the inhumane treatment of Polish priests in concentration camps, especially in Sachsenhausen. In September of the same year, Orsenigo again intervened on behalf of Catholic priests in solitary confinement. The Nazi regime refused to release them, fearing that they would generate anti-Nazi propaganda abroad. The only concession obtained was the concentration of the priests in the Dachau camp.
On March 20, 1942, the nuncio in Slovakia, Archbishop Giuseppe Burzio, intervened with the Slovak government to stop the deportation of Jews, responding to a request from the rabbi of Budapest. The papal office sent an official note to the Slovak ambassador to the Holy See stating: "The Jewish question is a question of humanity. The persecutions against the Jews in Germany and in occupied or subjugated countries are an offense to justice, charity and humanity. The same brutal treatment extends to baptized Jews. Therefore, the Catholic Church is fully authorized to intervene both in the name of divine law and natural law." A month later, the nuncio in Budapest, Angelo Rotta, reported that deportations had intensified, suggesting that Vatican interventions may have exacerbated Nazi repression in some cases.
War against the Catholic Church
Ickx devotes 23 pages to a case that illustrates Nazi tactics to neutralize Vatican interventions. In February 1943, a note of protest from the Holy See addressed to German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop was intercepted by Secretary of State Ernst von Weizsäcker, who returned it to the nuncio without delivering it. This allowed the Nazis to deny having received official protests from the Vatican. On this incident, Ickx concludes: "It was clear to the office that the National Socialists had declared war on the Catholic Church. There was nothing the Church could say or do to alter the Nazi policy of persecution. Failure to understand this partially explains the falsehoods that circulated for decades about Pius XII and his actions during World War II."
The Vatican achieved some timely successes, such as obtaining visas for German and Italian Jewish professors who fled to universities in the United States, Uruguay and Brazil. As U.S. diplomat Myron Taylor, Roosevelt's envoy to Rome, testified, Pius XII consistently defended suffering humanity, regardless of race or creed.
Johan Ickx's research provides a better understanding of the role of the Holy See in one of the darkest periods of recent history, confirming that Pius XII maintained a consistent and committed stance in defense of Jews and other persecuted people, in line with the moral principles he upheld throughout his life.
