Pope Pius XII

What was his original name?

Pacelli

What is the silent pope narrative?

starts with Italian play “The Deputy” in 1963 written by German protestant; pope is painted as open-door that Hitler can push through; acknowledges it’s fiction but people see it as Gospel truth; showed him as pro-Nazi pope because he refuses to renounce them publicly

What is the Hitler’s pope narrative?

book of the same title published in 1990s; portrays pope as ally of Hitler

What do the two narratives ignore?

what Pius XII did to thwart Nazism before even being pope

What happened to Pius XII from 1919 to the early 1930s?

was papal nuncio to Berlin and had assassination attempt

What were the three things implemented in 1930 by Pacelli, 3 years before Nazis came to power?

directs all bishops of Germany to excommunicate anyone who joins Nazi party, flies swastika, or dawns uniform

What did Hitler never do?

drink booze

Why doesn’t the Church publicly resist Nazism?

they wanted to protect themselves; needed to pragmatically find way to prevent persecution of Catholics while acting secretly to resist it

What kind of resistance do Catholics employ?

covert

What happened when the Nazis planned to kidnap Pius XII in 1941?

had already signed resignation so they’d be taking “just a priest”

When did Pius XII become pope?

March 1939

What did Hitler call Pacelli in a letter to Franco on September 30, 1941?

my personal enemy

What was Hitler’s relationship with faith?

was baptized but not part of the Church; Mussolini asked the pope to excommunicate him

What does Pius XI do for Jews?

gives clandestine help

What was sketchy about Pius XI’s death?

he died the night before giving address to Italian bishops letting them know the Fascist secret police are spying on them; doctor was father of one of Mussolini’s mistresses — suspected foul play

What was the Fascist secret police called?

CheckA

What was the Berliner Morgan Post Quote?

“Pacelli’s election is not welcomed in Germany because he has always been hostile to National Socialism”

What is the first thing Pius XII does as pope?

order nuncios to lobby with governments to accept Jewish refugees

What is the hooked cross?

swastika

What role does Fr. Kaas play?

becomes pope’s personal secretary and puts pope in contact with Joseph Müller, who gives contact to anti-Nazi resisters in Germany, both civilians and army members

What does the Vatican serve as?

channel through which anti-Nazi resisters can contact allies

What are adalvice pirates?

youth Nazi resisters

Who was Admiral Canaris?

resister who was never caught

Who was the most successful at trying to assassinate Hitler?

Ludwig Beck

What did Pius XII strategically use as communication?

diplomatic pouches instead of bugged phones

What did Müller do on May 3, 1940?

brought Nazi plans for invasion of Benelux states; sentenced to death but not killed

Why wasn’t Müller killed even though he was sentenced to death?

he could be used for bargaining

What did Pius XII do with the Benelux information?

communicated to monarchies of each country indirectly that they’d be invaded

What did Pius XII say in 1942 address?

“of these unfortunates (Nazis) one not only wants the end, one also wants to savor with Satanic relish the atrocious death of others”

What did Pius XII try to perform on Hitler?

long-distance exorcism

What was the rebot phone plan?

Nazis invade and occupy Rome; plan to occupy the Vatican; come in disguised and kill a bunch of priests, “save” the pope but instead jail him and kill him there

Why didn’t the rebot phone plan work?

Karl Wolf stalled and claimed he needed more recon until the Allies make it untenable

What happened at Orsenigo’s meeting with Hitler in 1943?

has private audience with Hitler and says Vatican is aware of the Holocaust; Hitler throws water at the wall and Orsenigo leaves

Why did Hitler throw water at his meeting with Orsenigo?

secrecy was gone — he had purposefully put 4/5 death camps in remote areas and built spruce trees over them

What did the Nazis occupy by 1943?

Rome and ¾ of Italy

What happens at Castel Gondolpho?

Pius XII opens his home to Jews; many go to Turkey using false documents; 7 babies born in bedchamber and over 800 helped

What was Kappler’s (SS governor of Italy) role?

demanded 50 kg of gold not to deport Jews from Rome; spies on Vatican with Catiano

What distinguishes German National Socialism from Fascism?

GNS is anti-Semitic; Fascists aren’t initially until Mussolini takes Nazi ideas to gain popularity

How does Pius XII respond to ransom request?

gives 15 kg of gold to start it; reaches out to general in charge on the day of; convinces him that continuing deportation will lead to Roman rebellion and it’s more embarrassing to get kicked out by civilians

How did engaging with the ransom help save Jews?

only 1259 out of original 8000 were deported

What happened when Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944?

2 million deported; showed how fast Nazis could deport — Pope needed to act fast

How many Holocaust victims came from Hungary?

1/3 of all

What did Rabbi Herzog's letter say?

thanked Pius XII for everything he was doing to help Jews and should continue doing everything he can to save “children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”

What was in the letter from Rabbi Zolli?

impressed by Pius XII’s personal risk and converts to Catholicism months before war is over; took baptismal name Eugenío María after Pius and Mary

How did Pius XII risk his live to save Jews?

disguised himself as Franciscan to help move people around

What did Nicholas Horthy do?

was regent in Hungary; declared martial law and fired everyone to stop deportations; cooperated with papal nuncio

How did Slovakia refuse to compromise with Pius?

prime minister Tuka and President Tiso didn’t cooperate with papal nuncio and participated in deportation

How do Einstein and NYT dismiss silent pope narrative?

praise Pius; he is lonely voice and only one speaking out at all to thwart Nazism