Introduction to the Holocaust: Britain and the Catholic Church

The Kindertransport and British Refugee Policy

The Kindertransport was the most dramatic act to save Jewish children made throughout the war in any location. These children arrived in England without their parents. To facilitate this, the British government required a financial agreement with the Jewish community to ensure these youngsters would not become wards of the state; the government did not want to pick up the bill for these children. The Board of Deputies, which is the organization looking after the Jewish community in England, provided the necessary financial guarantee, and consequently, the children were allowed entry. Once in the country, volunteers stepped up to take them in. These volunteers included Jewish individuals as well as many non-Jews in England who deserves significant credit for taking in Jewish children who survived the war. One notable example of the program's success can be seen in a very distinguished chemist who taught at Boston University. This individual was a child of the Kindertransport who served as the head of an Oxford college for a number of years before coming to America at retirement age to teach chemistry at Boston University. This salvific issue was a system that truly worked, though from $1939$ onward, immigration became very small.

The "Fifth Column" and British Immigration Barriers

The decline in immigration after $1939$ was a dialectical circumstance, reflecting both the situation on the European continent and the situation in England. Jews were trapped, unable to get out of the Germans' way fast enough, and once the war officially started, visas were no longer allowed to be used. This was satisfactory to the British, as they did not have to deal with the problem of refugees. A salient issue in dealing with refugees is the concern regarding a "fifth column." A fifth column is defined as a group of people within a society who are operating against that society’s interests. The argument against letting Jews in was the fear that they might work against British military interests or become spies for the Germans. There was some perceived virtue in this discussion because if Jews escaped while their families remained under German control, the Germans could feasibly bring pressure upon them. Consequently, they were viewed as potential "enemy aliens." On the war front, the British did very little, following their $1936$ and $1939$ White Papers regarding Palestine. Although the Jewish issue was discussed in Parliament and inner government circles, there was no tangible action taken.

Intelligence, Bletchley Park, and the Role of Winston Churchill

The British government was well-informed about the situation on the continent due to the Enigma machine. Similar to the American case, Britain possessed Enigma machines and established a research center at Bletchley Park, located outside of Cambridge, to decode German military codes. This was one of the earliest successful uses of computers—the precursors to modern AI—to break German codes and listen in on daily communications. Despite this information, the leadership of Prime Minister Winston Churchill presents a complicated story. Churchill was a friend of the Jews whose political career had been funded in part by Rothschild money. He spoke in Parliament on multiple occasions regarding the terrible things happening, yet when he held the power of the Prime Minister, he did very little. This is often considered the darkest spot on the record of a man rightfully viewed as one of the great leaders of modern history. Churchill led Britain through the bombardment of the Blitz and the German invasion attempt known as Sea Lion, yet in the area of Jewish rescue, where he had previously been on record supporting Zionism, nothing was done.

The Jewish Army and Media Failure in Britain

Late in the war, in $1943$, Jewish emigres approached the British government to request the formation of a Jewish army. This unit would consist of Jewish emigres fighting under British military control. There was significant opposition from the army and the Foreign Office, the latter of which was described as hostile to Jewish interests and influenced by a romanticized image of Palestinians, exemplified by the film Lawrence of Arabia. Eventually, a Jewish army was formed under the leadership of a Jewish general named Benjamin. This group of soldiers was allowed to fight and achieved some success, though it was considered marginal. Furthermore, the BBC and British newspapers failed to help publicize the atrocities. When the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising occurred, the BBC was asked to make it a public issue but failed to do so. In this regard, Britain, the Red Cross, and the United States government all failed to do what they were capable of doing.

Theological Roots of Christian-Jewish Conflict

The role of the Vatican is one of the most sensitive subjects regarding the Holocaust due to the deep faith people have in the Church as the presence of Christ on Earth. To understand the Church's actions, one must look back to the first century and the writings of Saint Paul, Mark, Matthew, and Luke. Christianity began as a Jewish sect but broke away and began to criticize mainline Judaism to justify its own theological positions, such as the belief in Jesus as the Messiah. The calculation was that if Judaism were correct—meaning one could be saved by keeping the biblical rules—then Jesus would not be necessary. Saint Paul famously stated that there is no salvation in the law. Keeping the commandments, or mitzvoth, would not grant entry to heaven because the gates had been closed since the sin of Adam and Eve. According to this theology, all humans are tainted by original sin, and the only way to heaven is through grace. Grace is defined as something being done for you that you do not deserve. This stands in contrast to justice, which is based on a scale of action and reaction. Christianity claims God acts graciously through the incarnation (bringing himself into the world as Jesus) and the crucifixion (suffering for humanity), which opened the gates of heaven that had been closed for everyone in purgatory since Adam's sin.

The Adversus Judaism Tradition and the Rise of the Catholic Empire

The theological competition between Judaism and Christianity led to the "Adversus Judaism" tradition (meaning "against the Jews"). This is most prevalent in the Gospel of John, specifically Chapter $8$, verse $43$, which describes the Jews as children of the devil. This language became common among the Church Fathers, and their patristic writings are filled with anti-Jewish messages. However, in the second and third centuries, this did not lead to violent conflict because Jews had no power after losing the great revolts against Rome in $66$–$70$ and $132$–$135$. This changed in the fourth century with Constantine, a competitor for the Roman emperorship. On the eve of battle, Constantine reported seeing a cross in the sky with the words "In Hoxinovensas" (translated as "in this side, Newell Cocker"). After winning the battle, he converted the Roman Empire from a pagan empire to a Catholic one. From $320$ to $325$, the state became officially anti-Jewish. By the year $1000$, the Church was dominant, leading to the Crusades at the end of the $11 ext{th}$ century. During the High Middle Ages ($1100$ to the $15 ext{th}$ century), anti-Judaism grew; Jews were barred from universities and guilds and forced into moneylending because Christians were biblically prohibited from issuing credit. This era also saw the rise of traditional libels, such as blaming Jews for the Black Death in $1348$ and $1349$ (claiming they poisoned wells) and the myth of the blood libel, such as the case of William of Norwich, a boy allegedly killed by Jews for ritual use of his blood.

St. Augustine and the Witness of Unbelief

In the fourth century, the Church debated how to treat Jews. While some like John Chrysostom were radically hostile, calling synagogues "whorehouses," Saint Augustine took a different view. Augustine argued that Jews must not be harmed because their existence was theologically important as a "witness of unbelief." Their servitude, poverty, and powerlessness served as proof that Christianity was right and Judaism was wrong. Furthermore, Augustine believed Jews were necessary for the Second Coming of Jesus, as Jesus would return only when the Jews converted. This Augustinian position prevented the Church from killing the Jews for fifteen hundred years, creating what could be called the eleventh Christian commandment: "thou shalt not kill the Jews." In the modern world, the Church struggled with the loss of authority due to science, reason, and secularism. The Church generally abominates socialism and modern democratic forms, preferring authority over modern political structures.

Pope Pius XII and the Vatican’s Wartime Silence

Pope Pius XII, born into a distinguished Italian family, rose through the Vatican's foreign office. He served as the Vatican representative in Berlin in the $1920 ext{s}$ and became a great admirer of German culture and food. In $1934$, he mediated the Concordat, an agreement between the Vatican and the Third Reich intended to isolate the Church from the violence of the period. This allowed Catholics to keep their schools, seminaries, and universities in exchange for the Vatican's public silence regarding the Reich's behavior. The Vatican was aware that Nazi racial policies violated Christian tradition—which holds that everyone is potentially valuable—but they remained silent. Pius XII was more concerned with Stalin and Communism in the $1930 ext{s}$, as Stalin had already caused mass death, including a famine in Ukraine that killed $4$ to $5$ million people, whereas Hitler had not yet engaged in mass murder prior to $1939$. For the Pope, keeping the churches open was a priority because, unlike in Judaism or Islam, the Catholic Mass (the Eucharist) is essential for salvation and requires an officiating priest in a sanctified space. During the Mass, it is believed that Jesus is spiritually incarnated in the bread (matzah) and wine. Additionally, the Pope was anxious to protect Rome from military bombardment.

The Conundrum of the Vatican Archives and Moral Judgment

The Vatican was informed of the murder of the Jews through Enigma intelligence and the confessional. Priests heard the private thoughts and behaviors of individuals and passed this information to the Church hierarchy in Rome, who knew about the death camps and the destination of the trains. Despite this, the Pope spoke out only twice: a message in $1942$ regarding people injured due to their race, and an intervention in $1944$ against the deportation of Hungarian Jews. The debate over the Vatican centers on whether it acted on moral principles in secret or whether it failed in its duty. Pope Francis (who passed away a year ago) ordered the opening of the Vatican's "secret archive," which contains $80,000,000$ documents from the period. However, the archive remains largely inaccessible because the Church is worried about making information from the confessional public. Scholars must wait for these documents to be vetted. Ultimately, we do not have evidence that Pius XII was a moral monster, but there is no direct evidence he acted with high moral purpose. His apologists argue that speaking out would have led to the destruction of the Church and the invasion of Rome. This presents a deep moral question about whether a symbolic gesture could have influenced the tens of millions of Catholics in Europe. As Irving Greenberg once stated, no matter what group you belong to, after the Holocaust, everyone should be ashamed.