Book review: “The Pope and the Holocaust

This book, “The Pope and the Holocaust: Pius XII and the Vatican Secret Archives,” by Michael Hesemann was first published in German in 2018. It was published in English in August 2022. He is the author of several books “Mary of Nazareth” (2016), “Jesus of Nazareth” (2021) and co-authored with Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, “My Brother, the Pope” (2012). He has also appeared on EWTN, The Discovery Channel and The History Channel.  The foreword is by Father Peter Gumpel, S.J., who is the relator in the beatification process for Pope Venerable Pius XII.

Hesemann rebuffs attacks on Pope Pius XII with this book. Communists and anti-Catholic critics say that the pope was too silent in regard to the Shoah, the Jewish Holocaust that claimed over six million lives during World War II. With information that was already available from various sources other than the Vatican archives, Hesemann’s research shows that the pope was a bit diplomatically silent, but he was very active in the behind the scenes.  

He supported those in the Church who were actively helping Jews and others to escape the Nazis. He even ordered the convents and monasteries in Vatican controlled territory to hide and support refugees. He would support these people financially.  

He spoke out diplomatically when he could, and as carefully as he could, because he did not want to create another situation like what happened in Holland. The Bishops of Holland in 1942 spoke out and then all Jews, and converts from Judaism, were rounded up and shipped off to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland to be executed, which included Saint Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) and her sister Rose. 

Heseman shows that Hitler and his servants knew what the pope was saying when he spoke out in diplomatic language or protested through the papal diplomats. Heseman also shows that the pope knew and supported activities by various clergy and religious throughout Europe to save as many Jews and others. 

Heseman’s research in the Vatican archives backed up these findings and he discovered more information. He provides this information, even to the point of having images of the documents he found. He visited the Vatican archives after he had published his German language book and has added this information to the original.
    
In June 2022, while in quarantine with COVID-19, I read the book by David Kertzer, “The Pope at War: the secret history of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler” (2022); which was a hit-piece on Pope Pius XII and brought up the same claims of him being too silent and not doing enough to help the Jews. He also accused the pope of being in league with Mussolini and Hitler. He did not present the normal information about what good the pope had done that shows up in other books on the pope and the Holocaust. This information usually refutes what negative things Kertzer wrote. So I was happy when Hesemann’s book came out that August. I later learned that Kertzer is opposed to Pope Pius XII because he has written other books like this one.

Heseman’s book, I think, promotes the cause that Pope Pius XII should be beatified and then canonized. The record shows more and more with discoveries from the Vatican archives and other sources that Pope Pius XII did a lot to save many Jews and others from the Nazis.  

At his death in 1958, many Jewish leaders praised him. It was only after his death that the pope’s detractors started their wicked plan to discredit him with a Communist supported play, “The Deputy,” by Rolf Hochhuth in 1963. Ever since then, with various books and articles, Pope Pius XII has been accused of doing too little for the Jews. This book aims to show this to be lies fabricated by enemies of Pope Pius XII and the Roman Catholic Church.  

In this book there are several black and white illustrations, a chronology, bibliographical references, index of persons and a subject index. This book is very highly recommended to those interested in Pope Pius XII and his response to the Holocaust. 

Br. Benet Exton, O.S.B., Saint Gregory's Abbey, Shawnee, is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.