History vs. Apologetics: The Holocaust, the Third Reich, and the Catholic ChurchSet within the context of the political and ideological developments of the time, History vs. Apologetics examines the role played by the Catholic Church in the rise and consolidation of the Third Reich and in particular with regard to the Nazi persecution of the Jews. Distanced in the beginning, the Catholic Church and the Nazi party drew closer as Hitler's popularity increased. At the ratification of the Concordat in Rome, a commitment not to interfere with the Nazis' 'Final Solution' to the 'Jewish Question' was traded for a verbal promise from Berlin to exclude the baptized converts. While the Nazi government violated the Concordat at every turn, the Church kept zealously its promise. Pope Pius XII never mentioned the persecuted Jews by name and denied any knowledge of the annihilation of the Jews. Even after the war, Pius XII refused to condemn anti-Semitism and Germany's role in the Holocaust. Instead, the Vatican engaged in the protection of genocide perpetrators and assisted in their mass escape. David Cymet's comprehensive critical analysis of the polemical literature on the topic makes it possible to separate legitimate history from apologetic allegations and misrepresentations, bringing to light key elements of Church policy that is intentionally misinterpreted by apologists. By surveying the Church's policy from just before the rise of Nazism to the present, Cymet demonstrates how the Nazis were able to turn the Catholic Church into their ally in their war against the Jews. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Hitlers Background | 15 |
Hitler in Power 1933 | 41 |
German Rearmament | 73 |
Hitlers Grossdeutschland | 105 |
Catholic Europe Defends Itself from the Jews | 141 |
World War II | 173 |
The Einsatzgruppen | 211 |
The Final Solution in Christian Europe | 305 |
Vatican Response to the Final Solution | 375 |
Pius XII in the Postwar Period 19451958 | 411 |
After Pope Pius XIIs Death | 445 |
461 | |
467 | |
About the Author | 491 |
The Death Camps | 251 |
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History Vs. Apologetics: The Holocaust, the Third Reich, and the Catholic Church David Cymet No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
Allied ambassador annihilation Anschluss anti-Jewish anti-Semitism April army arrived Aryan August Auschwitz Austria baptized converts became began Belzec Berlin bishops Burzio Cardinal Catholic Catholic Church Center Party Christian command concordat conference crimes Croatia death camps declared deportation documents Eichmann Einsatzgruppen Europe Faulhaber Final Solution France Führer gas chambers gassing German ghetto Gitta Sereny Herczl Himmler Hitler Holocaust Holy Höss Hudal Hungarian Hungary issued Italian Italy Jewish community Jewish question Jewry Jews July June killing labor laws leaders legislation Maglione March mass murder military million Minister Morley Msgr Munich Mussolini National Nazi Germany Nazi Party non-Aryan nuncio Nuremberg October Office Pacelli Papen persecution Phayer Pius XII pogrom Poland Polish political Pope Pope's population Press priests protest Rabbi race racial Reichstag Romania Rome September Slovak Slovakia Sobibor Soviet territory Third Reich tion Tiso treaty Treblinka trial Ukraine Ustashi Vatican Diplomacy victims vote York Zuccotti