10.
(HITLER'S POPE) THE SECRET HISTORY OF PIUS XII, by John Cornwell New York: Viking, 1999 Julia wrote this to Stewart;
it was the only other answer he got from his original "email request for
responses," on his own with no help, where he posted it. (The other
was Chris Turner's response shown previously).
From
reading Mein Kampf, my impression was always that the Jews were not viewed as
a weaker race, but as a scheming, evil race, just as strong as the Aryans in their
own way, but skewed and maniacal, not possessing their own culture and bent on
dominating others. This is quite different from a weaker race, no?
Julia
Stewart's
"answer" to Julia was to simply post a review of a book that some author
(unknown) wrote.
Hitler's
Pope documentation:
Hitler's
Pope documents sainthood candidate's Nazi collaboration Hitler's Pope: The
Secret History of Pius XII, by John Cornwell New York: Viking, 1999, 430 pp.This
is a remarkable book on Eugenio Pacelli, who was Pope Pius XII from 1939 to 1958.
Written by a Catholic scholar originally intending to defend Pacelli, the book
presents a Catholic insider view of Pacelli.
The
pope is the top authority in the Catholic religion and by tradition he has resided
in Rome, Italy. Currently the place where he resides is called the Vatican, a
place that other countries treat as a tiny country into itself. Cornwell, the
author, has examined Vatican documents regarding Pacelli at a time when the Catholic
Church is considering naming him a saint, in a process called beatification. Vatican
documents generally stay secret for 75 years; (p. 372) although the Vatican claims
to have released a complete collection in regard to World War II.
Cornwell
concludes that Pacelli was "no monster," (p. viii) but he was "Hitler's
pope," an easy pawn to handle.(p. 297) Based on the details presented by
Cornwell, Pope Pius XII must be counted amongst the most evil men of the twentieth
century. -Aside from his role of perpetuating a religion that is a diversion from
scientific and ideological clarity about this world, he supported a deliberate
division of the human race based on a figment of the imagination known as "God."
Yugoslavia
and the Croats
Cornwell's
material with the most contemporary flavor concerns the bloodletting in ex-Yugoslavia.
In the case of enemies of the Serbs, it was Catholic Croat fascists who declared
an independent Croatia and initiated massacres of Serbs in the wake of Hitler's
invasion of eastern Europe. Cornwell fully admits the Catholic role and points
out that the Pope condoned the massacres of non-Catholics in the wake of Hitler's
victories: "Even by comparison with the recent bloodshed in Yugoslavia at
the time of this writing, Pavelic's onslaught against the Orthodox Serbs remains
one of the most appalling civilian massacres known to history."(p. 249)
In
fact, the Croats had managed a rare feat—to be included by Hitler in his
idea of the Aryan race as Aryans.(p. 248) The Serbs, along with most peoples in
the world, were slated for extermination by Hitler—a fact increasingly lost
in capitalist propaganda seeking to whitewash racism and equate Hitler's Nazism
with communism and both as "totalitarianism." Hitler only regarded the
Jews as his most fit internationalist enemy and the most convenient scapegoat
for German unity purposes. There were only 2 million Orthodox Christian Serbs,
and the Croats led by Catholic priests(p. 254) managed to kill 487,000 between
1941 and 1945 in addition to 27,000 Gypsies and 30,000 out of 45,000 Jews. (p.
253)
The reason Pope Pius XII
condoned the massacres by the Ustashe is that it made it easier to spread Catholicism
in the region. "Mass conversions" of Orthodox Christian Serbs and massacres
of those same Serbs became difficult to separate, because the reasons for the
two were the same. For this reason, Pacelli held joyous greetings for Croatian
police and young Catholic fascists in Rome.(p. 260).
While
it is well-known that the Jews suffered a holocaust, what the people do not realize
is that the Vatican had its own genocidal fascism to account for all by itself—without
tailing behind Hitler or Mussolini. The Serbs and Gypsies were just two more peoples
that faced genocide by fascists. As it turns out, Pacelli also had a role in fanning
the historical hatreds in the Balkans that led to the genocide of World War II.
World
War I
Of all the evil ruling
class figures during the 20th century, Pacelli's claim to infamy comes
largely from the fact of having an important role to play for so long. Before
he became pope, he was the number two person in the Catholic hierarchy, the Secretary
of State. As a diplomat, in World War I, Pacelli was involved in the most vexing
European ethnic conflicts, most of which remain unresolved today, thanks to Pacelli's
type of politics.
As it turns
out, Pacelli was there for the beginning of World War I in 1914. Four days before
the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that started World War I, Pacelli maneuvered
a diplomatic deal with Serbia that embarrassed Austria-Hungary.(p. 48) Pacelli
had cut a deal with the Serbs to protect Catholicism and allow the Pope more absolute
authority over Catholics in Serbia. His so-called "Serbian Concordat"
was another straw piled on the camel's proverbial back.
As
the war went on, Pacelli also learned to fake his anti-militarism. None other
than the German Kaiser told him he should show concern for the troops in World
War I, because it often seemed to the troops that only socialists and communists
were concerned about their well-being!(p. 68)
Mussolini
While
Pacelli's greatest evil came from working with Hitler, both Hitler and Pacelli
took their cues from Mussolini first. Mussolini came to power as a fascist in
Italy before Hitler and he also signed a treaty with the Pope before Hitler. While
Pacelli was the senior diplomat in the Vatican, Pope Pius XI called Mussolini
"'a man sent by Providence.'"(p. 114) Rather than upbraid Pope Pius
XI, Pacelli named himself in the same line.
We
find it reprehensible that so many Christians today live in denial regarding Christianity's
role in propping up Hitler and Mussolini. The Vatican's endorsement of Mussolini
is especially damning. The Vatican went so far as to dissolve a Catholic
party and urge voters to support Mussolini and his party!(p. 116)
As
the one to break the ice in Europe, Mussolini bears much of the responsibility
for the fascist infection of all of Europe after World War I. The Vatican in turn
bears responsibility for Mussolini.
Hitler
Most
dialectical materialist analysis of the rise to power of Hitler focuses on the
social-democrats and their influence in the communist ranks. The original reason
for this focus is that it used to be obvious that the Catholics and other Christians
were ready fodder for Hitler; in contrast, the split in the working-class
was much more interesting. It was often thought that a united German working-class
under proletarian leadership could change world history decisively.
Now
with capitalist media-induced amnesia, the youth grow up thinking that Hitler
was simply a "statesman." Hence, the trouble that Cornwell goes through
to prove that Catholics but not socialists supported Hitler is important.
Catholic Father Paul Collins pointed out that the version of papal authority accepted
was more strict than anything put forward by communists or fascists.(p. 39)
From
the point of view of dialectical materialism, it is obvious that Christianity
dulls the scientific sensibilities of the masses, because it teaches them poor
logic—"to argue from authority." No matter how well respected the
authority, a statement is not true because an authority says so. Any argument
along the lines that "God says so" is in fact "argument from authority"
and should not be applied to anything in the real world, lest an elementary
mistake in logic be made. This is not the same thing as saying that people may
not submit to authorities as anarchists are likely to say. There may be good reasons
to follow an authority. Logic only says that the truth is independent of its speaker.
Aside
from the countless German Christian leaders who named Hitler "Christ reincarnated,"
Christianity prepared the masses for fascism by teaching "argument from authority"
in place of logic. Religious efforts to water down scientific education also contribute
to making the masses ready for fascist leaders appealing to their emotions—especially
anti-Semitism in the case of Catholics.
Cornwell
adds that Hitler was the perfect counterpart to Pacelli, because Pacelli opposed
democracy and needed an authoritarian leader to negotiate with. Hitler was willing
to impose a nation-wide deal that others had a hard time negotiating with various
local authorities and political constituencies.
Pacelli
had failed to obtain from Germans what he wanted for Catholic schools. Hitler
granted Catholic schools and recognition of papal authority over all Catholic
clergy in exchange for removing the Catholics from politics. In practice, this
meant that Hitler succeeded in paralyzing possible Catholic opposition to himself.
Every time the masses or lower levels of the Church rose against Hitler, Pacelli
was there to urge reconciliation with Hitler until well into World War II.
As
in the case of starting World War I, and helping Mussolini in power, Pacelli was
right there when Hitler needed a pivotal push to power. It is a great irony of
history and previously unknown to this reviewer that Pope Pius XII made right-wing
German Chancellor (1930-1932) Heinrich Bruning look like a radical leftist. Catholic
Bruning urged Pacelli not to make deals with Hitler. Bruning's Catholic Center
Party was one of the last possible sources of opposition to Hitler.
Instead
of opposing Hitler, the Catholic Center Party followed Pacelli's advice and facilitated
Hitler's rise to power. Crucially, it voted for Hitler's so-called "Enablement
Bill."(p. 135) Already by the time of March 1933, Hitler had succeeded in
banning the communists and their elected representatives. The social-democrats
voted against Hitler's power-grab, but the Catholic Center Party voted for it
and dissolved itself. It would be hard to think of a more timely yet evil single
act in the 20th century. Bruning rightly called the "Enablement
Bill" "'the most monstrous resolution ever demanded of a parliament.'"(p.
135) Unfortunately, Pacelli had his way, not Bruning! Only 14 out of 76 Catholic
delegates had the courage to oppose Pacelli and side with Bruning, so the entire
Catholic bloc voted for Hitler.
Four
days after becoming pope in 1939, Pacelli issued a positive statement to Hitler
asking for reconciliation again. He also arranged for an ostentatious birthday
for Hitler's 50th on April 20th, 1939.(p. 209)
Seven
months later in 1939, a right-wing plot involving the Pope arose in Germany to
kill Hitler. (p. 235) Thus far, historians have treated this plot as legitimate
and not a concoction of German Nazi counter-insurgency. Eventually it's leaders
did die in the attempt. It is one of the few proofs that Pacelli was not completely
a Hitlerite himself, merely a Nazi collaborator. In the plot to kill Hitler, it
was the role of Pacelli to approach England and France to ask for good peace terms
in exchange for the rebels' killing of Hitler.
While
Pacelli was thus willing to see Hitler assassinated in the late 1930s or early
1940s, his own agenda still overlapped with much of the Nazi agenda. He preferred
Franco fascism to Hitler fascism. Franco in Spain was also ardently authoritarian,
but Franco believed his work was on behalf of the Pope, while Hitler was more
likely to encourage others to think he was the messiah himself. Pacelli hoped
for a Franco style fascism all across Europe. Pacelli opposed both majority
rule by bourgeois rules and communism.
The
Jews
The single issue most
scandalous to John Cornwell is how traditional Catholic anti-Semitism played right
into Hitler's program of genocide against the Jews, what Cornwell calls "the
greatest crime in human history."(p. 293) Pacelli's admirers include Jews
who credit him with saving 860,000 Jewish lives during the war, (p. 378) but Cornwell
shows how numerous stories regarding the pope's role in resisting Hitler's genocide
were simply false, an attempt to protect Pacelli's image. It is Cornwell's efforts
in the historical archives on this question that set much of history straight.
The
pope's negative role decreased as the war went on, but even at the very end when
German troops occupying Rome were afraid of Italian revolt, partly because Mussolini
had been sent packing, Pacelli did not manage to speak out against the murder
of over 1000 Roman Jews by a few determined SS troops. Thanks to Stalin's leadership
success of the Soviet Red Army, the situation was so weak for the Nazis that Hitler
had to concede that he did not have the power to kidnap even the defenseless pope
in a city occupied by Nazi troops in late 1943. (p. 315)
Meanwhile
the Nazi diplomats to the Vatican secretly turned against their government and
begged the pope to stop the massacre of Jews just by speaking out against the
demoralized and potentially heavily outnumbered SS. (pp. 302, 304) So it was that
even sectors of the Nazi ruling class were beginning to look good compared to
Pacelli. Hence, even with Allied troops advancing and the Italian people carrying
out armed resistance and near the boiling point against a losing Nazi army, Pacelli
still did not take a correct stance, and one reason was his ardent anti-communism
(i.e., Atheism) and fear of an Italian Revolution.
Rather,
during most of World War II once England and France declared war on Germany, Pacelli
could be found agitating for "universal city" status for Rome—by
which he meant freedom from Allied bombardment by airplane. As the leader of the
world's half a billion Catholics, Pacelli was a provincialist putting his locale
first while taking weak stances on the fascist atrocities inside Rome and around
the world. Also under Pacelli's rule, the death of Hitler found the Cardinal Archbishop
of Berlin in mourning and ordering all priests "'to hold a solemn Requiem
in memory of the Fuehrer and all those members of the Wehrmacht who have fallen
in the struggle for our German Fatherland, along with the sincerest prayers for
Volk and Fatherland and for the future of the Catholic Church in Germany.'"(p.
317)
Black (African) troops
While Pacelli had little
to say about specific war atrocities when he had the chance regarding the Jews,
Gypsies and Serbs, he did speak out twice against the use of Black troops as occupation
forces. According to Pacelli, Black troops are more likely to rape European women
than other troops.
Hence, we
see that Pacelli was willing to get into minute ethnic details when it suited
him. He specifically asked the USA not to allow any Blacks to occupy Rome.(p.
95)
Conclusion
John
Cornwell provides a good example of how to write an historical account without
resorting to airy ideological principles. He provides examples of where Catholic
resistance (to eugenics (p. 153), to euthanasia (p. 198) or German atrocities
in Italy) made a big difference and proved that Hitler was not unstoppable. He
also demonstrated from other periods of history what was possible, what the masses
should have expected the Pope to be able to do on behalf of justice—since
much of the argument concerning Pacelli is with regard to just how much power
he had to bring to bear in various situations.
"Hitler's
Pope" is a well-organized book with a clear sense of moral logic and direction
that is increasingly lacking in the contemporary academic world. It answers many
of the questions that we should want answered about Pope Pius XII. Perhaps more
than any reactionary leader this century, Pope Pius XII was at the right place
at the right time doing the wrong thing.
End
of Review.
