Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII, by Joseph Bottum (Editor), David G. Dalin. 2004

A Solid Debunking of Pope Pius XII as “Hitler’s Pope”. But How Did This Monstrous Lie Ever Become Seriously Entertained in the First Place, and Why Does it Persist Today?

Rabbi David G. Dalin presents a considerable body of evidence showing that Pope Pius XII was consistently anti-Nazi, in words and actions, and then over a long period of time, beginning decades before WWII. (e. g, pp. 16-19).

Moreover, Pope Pius XII’s statements unambiguously condemn Nazism as an anti-human racist system, thus refuting those atheists who say that the Catholic Church only condemned Nazism when it infringed on the “privileges” of the Catholic Church.

Finally, the fact that Pope Pius XII had a decades-long track record condemning Nazi racism refutes those cynical Jews who would have us believe that postwar Jewish praise for Pope Pius XII was undeserved, and just a ploy for securing papal support for the soon-to-emerge State of Israel.

DANIEL GOLDHAGEN’S VICIOUS ANTI-CHRISTIANITY

Michael Novak takes Daniel Goldhagen to task for his A MORAL RECKONING, in which Goldhagen reduces Hitler to a “later chapter” so that he can bash the Catholic Church. Novak takes his gloves off and tells it like it is. He calls Goldhagen a bigot. (p. 83).

THE HITLER’S POPE CALUMNY A RECYCLING OF OLD COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA

The Communist attempt to smear Pope XII as a follower of Hitler did not begin with Rolf Hochhuth’s 1963 play, DER STELLVERTNER. It began decades earlier. William Doino Jr. writes, “Throughout–and especially toward the end of–World War II, the Communists conducted a concerted effort to depict Pius XII as pro-Nazi and thus shatter his reputation.” (p. 158).

DEEPER QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED

How did the scurrilous lie about Pope Pius XII, as Hitler’s pope, become a serious question in the first place?

How did such guttural, primal Communist propaganda become mainstream? Has academia moved so far to the left that what once was extreme left is now more or less mainstream?

Why is it that, now 16 years after this book was published, books on the Holocaust still mention the totally bogus controversy about Pope Pius XII as if it was a valid controversy, and moreover one whose accuracy is a mere matter of opinion?

Why is the “Hitler’s pope” accusation always framed in terms of the Jews, and never in terms of Christians under Hitler? Is it yet another manifestation of Holocaust supremacism?

Did facts ever matter in the first place, or was it always a matter of smearing the Catholic Church?

How does the dastardly accusation against Pope Pius XII relate to the chronic anti-Christian bias that dominates Holocaust-related thinking?

Is the “Hitler’s Pope” rubbish part of the German guilt diffusion agenda of shifting the blame for the Holocaust onto Poles and onto Christianity?

Something to think about.