![]() The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler cites many examples of what Pope Pius XII knew and the staggering contrast in his statements - and silence. When a Roman military chaplain briefed him on Germans dynamiting synagogues in Ukraine and horrific Nazi massacres of Jews and Catholics, the priest recalled: "I saw him cry like a child and pray like a saint." ![]() ![]() In 1941, when Hitler invaded Russia, the pope singled out "the great courage shown in defending the bases of Christian civilization and confident hope in their triumph."Īnd yet Pius knew the rotten underbelly. The pope made no great outcry as Polish Jews were slaughtered in 1939 and Polish priests went to prison. Pius' words had repercussions he probably never imagined, a language so scripted as not to offend Adolf Hitler and Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in the grisly buildup to World War II. ![]()
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