Pius XII Rationale

“Was German ‘Eliminationist Anti-Semitism” Responsible for the Holocaust?” is a fascinating and somewhat discouraging debate that explores the question of whether German anti-Semitism, instilled within citizens outside of the Nazi Party, played a vast role in the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust . Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of “The Paradigm Challenged,” believes that it did; and argues quite convincingly that ordinary German citizens were duplicitous either by their actions or inactions due to the deep-seeded nature of anti-Semitic sentiment in the country. On the other hand, Christopher R. Browning, who has extensively researched the Holocaust, argues that the arguments of Goldhagen leaves out significant dynamics which were prevalent throughout most of Western and Eastern Europe during this period of history.

The events which have become to be known as The Holocaust have caused much debate and dispute among historians. Central to this varied dispute is the intentions and motives of the perpetrators, with a wide range of theories as to why such horrific events took place. The publication of Jonah Goldhagen’s controversial but bestselling book “Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust” in many ways saw the reigniting of the debate and a flurry of scholarly and public interest. Central to Goldhagen’s disputed argument is the presentation of the perpetrators of the Holocaust as ordinary Germans who largely, willingly took part in the atrocities because of deeply held and violently strong anti-Semitic beliefs. This in many

Years ago, a man was crucified for saying he was God’s Son. His name was Jesus Christ. Those who followed his teachings were named Christians; and Christians soon resented Jews for their sinful act. This tension between Christians and Jews lead to increasing hatred for one another. Not too long ago, anti-Semitism was common. Anti-Semitism led to the death of an entire population during the Holocaust. Luckily, the church has taken measures to rectify this anti-semitism with the publication of Nostra Aetate. In 1965, the Vatican II Council completely transformed the church’s policies and theology with this document. Nostra Aetate signifies “In Our Time.” Indeed, in our time, the ill sentiments towards Jews have changed tremendously. Nostra

The obliterate event of the holocaust in 1933. The Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. Most of the Jews lived in the countries that Nazi Germany would occupy or influence in World War 2. By 1945, Germans and their collaborators killed nearly two out of every three European Jews as the ‘Final Solution’ the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe (Introduction to the Holocaust). The cause and effect of the holocaust was due to racism, prejudice and stereotyping since, Jews were isolated in their communities that caused distrusted and discrimination against the Jews in Europe.(Cause and Effect of Holocaust ). In the boy in the striped book, when Gretel and her brother Bruno looked out the window to figure out what the hut were in the distance at the time Gretel said ‘’ it’s a countryside. This is our holiday home’’. Then Bruno said’’ i don’t think so’’. After this Gretel discriminates against Bruno saying’’ your only nine years old, how would you know ( The Boy in the Striped Pajamas pg.34 John Boyne). Adolf Hitler and the Nazi operation on the anti-semitic racist beliefs that germans are superior people with the ideology, using World War 2 as their primary to achieve their goal. The Nazis targeted the Jews as main enemy, killing six million Jewish men,

Many heroes worked hard to save Jewish people during the Holocaust, a genocide of anti-semitism, and their stories live on in the people who they saved. In September 1943, Bishop Giuseppe Nicolini received a letter from the Pope in Vatican that told him that the church should organize help for all refugees, especially the Jewish people and the Assisi Network was born. The “Assisi Network” began as a refugee camp with help from the surrounding Church community, but soon evolved into a huge organized operation. The people who risked their lives to run the Assisi Network helped to save hundreds of people and fought to hide Jews who would have otherwise been prosecuted. The story of the Assisi Network preserves the legacy of the Holocaust by using

This article has information on how the world reacted when they heard about what the German Nazis were doing to the Jews. The article has information titled: News Of Exterminating Reaches of U.S, President Roosevelt’s Apparent Reluctance To help Europe’s Jews, The Bermuda Conference, War Refugee Board, and bombing Railways And Auschwitz. In August 1942, the representative of the World Jewish Congress, Gerhart Riegner, in Switzerland heard about as German plan to obliterate the Jews in Europe. Riegner immediately took the information he had and show it so the American consulate in Geneva, where Riegner asked The Vice-Council, Howard Elting Jr., to show the information to Washington and other Allied governments. After the State Departments established

This examination is important in its historical content because it is often debated whether Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church actually helped or hurt the Jews during the Holocaust. Some claim that he helped to legitimize the Nazi regime and assisted Hitler himself, while others argue that he silently assisted the Jews while still appearing neutral.

“Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.” (J.K. Rowling) While a lot of the world disliked the Japanese race and the Jewish religion, most of them world simply ignored what was going on in America and Germany at these times. No one went out of their way to help until, in Germany’s case, the other countries were threatened by Nazis and decided to step in and stop everything going on. The world turned a blind eye to these tragedies happening to Japanese and Jewish people until it affected them personally (World War 1 and 2). In the case of World War 1, people did not step in to help save the Jewish people until the Nazis were a threat to them. Unlike the Jewish people, during World War 2, people did not try to save the Japanese from the relocation camps. America did try to hide the centers so they were less well known than the death camps in Germany were. The world’s reaction to social injustice is only one of the factors that affect one's faith in

This investigation evaluates why common Germans took part in the Holocaust. In order to assess why common Germans took part in the Holocaust the investigation focuses on the participation and complacency of the German people during the Holocaust, specifically the extermination of the Jewish people, and the reasoning behind it. Different explanations for the German actions developed by a range of historians will be presented. The conventional reasons, like psychological and cultural, and the nonconventional reasons will be studied. There will be an in-depth look at the effect of Nazism and propaganda, human behavior, and anti-Semitism on the common Germans and the extent to which they led to the participation in the Holocaust. The scope will allow for analysis and conclusion to the most valid reason why common Germans took part in the Holocaust.

These ominous “commandments” foreshadow and foreground some of what is later to come in Nazi Germany with the reading of these of Luther’s statements, among others, in Protestant churches to incite violence against the Jews. It is no coincidence that Kristallnacht coincides with Luther’s birthday (Burston, 2014). Many Nazis even thought that they were finishing Luther’s

The extermination of Jewish people during World War II was a horrific and merciless event that was effectively stopped by the Allies. Once the Allies became aware of the Holocaust, they immediately took action to end it. There have been countless suggestions of what the Allies could have done to prevent the Holocaust, however those would not have been as effective as the solution the Allies had put in place. Despite arguments that the Allies did not make a strong attempt to saving the Jews, by putting all their resources into the complete defeat of Nazi Germany, they were essentially doing all they could.

Two years later and just before the outbreak of World War II, in February 1939, Pope Pius XI died. Cardinal Pacelli was then elected Pope and became Pope Pius XII. Due to his previous anti-Nazi ideals, the future Allied powers were confident that Pius XII would fully support their part in WWII; however, Pope Pius XII would remain neutral throughout the war (Sanchez 17). At the beginning of his papacy, Pius XII told Vatican officials that 'to me the German question is the most important; I will reserve handling it to myself.' He added, 'Naturally I will follow German matters closer than all others" (Phayer 44). Pius XII hoped that remaining neutral in the war would evade battles in Vatican City.

During World War II, there were truly no bystanders. It was practically impossible to feign ignorance to the pervasive and overbearing power of the Nazi party, as propaganda was spread with abandon, both in favor of the swastika and staunchly against it. In the United States, catchphrases such as, “When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler!” were common to see, the alternate to anti-Bolshevik and anti-semitic ideals in Axis controlled Europe. Yet, there was often a limitation to what the average European would do- whether out of fear, loyalties, or sheer apathy- and true resistance was left to the bands of organized rebels or local militaries. Cowardice was prevalent in even the considerably holiest members of communities. Pastor Martin Niemoller

Peter Longerich's Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews is a recent contribution to the contemporary scholarly literature on the subject. The book was originally published in 1998 in German, under the title Politik der Vernichtung, Politics of Destruction. This 2010 English-language release is, as the author claims, shorter in some areas and longer in others. The primary additions include a chapter on anti-Semitism in the Weimar Republic, which adds considerable meat to the contextual evidence that Longerich includes in his history of the Holocaust. Moreover, the author draws on the release of new primary source data from the archives in Warsaw and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, which have only recently been revealed, archived, and cataloged.

With this propaganda the Nazi attacked the churches and their members between 1934 and 1936. The Nazis shut down Catholic schools, the Hitler Youth absorbed several youth groups, and the Gestapo arrested dozens of Catholic priests and accused them of immorality. This anti-Catholic campaign produced a defensive reaction from the Church. In March 1937, Pope Pius XI issued a papal encyclical entitled Mit Brennender Sorge (‘With Burning Anxiety’), in which the Pope condemned the violations of the Reichskonkordat and criticized the racial policies of the regime and the lack of justice or natural law in the Nazi state. This marked the beginning of the resistance that the Catholic Church put up against the Nazi regime.