Papacy In Nazi Germany - Essay Example

HITLER’S POPE Nazism remains one of the most controversial aspects of the world history. Throughout years, thousands of historians and scholars in military science sought to assess the contribution and effects of Nazism and personally Hitler to the development of anti-Semitism and nationalist trends around the globe. The relationship between Catholicism and Nazism was increasingly problematic: to blame religious leaders of being Nazis and anti-Semitists would mean to undermine the stability of the religious beliefs and trust in the context of public adherence to Catholic values and norms. John Cornwell made one of the first attempts to look deeper into the role which Catholic religious leaders played in the development and expansion of Nazism in Europe. His book about Eugenio Pacelli, the Catholic Pope during the World War II, was too sensational to be untrue. The author relied on the primary documents, to reveal the astonishing truth about the Pope, his attitudes toward Jews, and his role in the development of diplomatic ties between Nazi Germany and other European allies. Despite a wealth of historic information provided by Cornwell, his personal “negative” attitudes toward the Pope were too obvious to conceal and often compromised the need to be historically objective and unbiased. That the topic of Catholic religion during the times of Nazism had always been underresearched pushed John Cornwell to explore the subject in greater detail. His book was the product of his own analysis and the growing interest toward the issues of papacy in Nazi Germany. Cornwell acknowledged that in his book, he wanted to resolve the eternal conflict of beliefs about the Pope: “some historians were confident that Eugenio Pacelli shamed the Catholic Church by failing to denounce the Final Solution; others believed that the issue lacked historical evidence and proofs”.1 The topic was increasingly interesting to everyone who sought to feel the information void in the contemporary research about religion during the times of Nazism. Pope Eugenio Pacelli was an exemplary object of historical research, due to the significant role he played in church during the World War II and the number of mysteries that surrounded his personality during and after his religious triumph. The popularity of the Pope’s figure was difficult to underestimate – Cornwell wrote that his picture had been looking at him at every wall of every classroom.2 What else could a professional historian need to produce a sensation? – only an access to the secret documents that could shed the light on the ongoing controversy around Pacelli. The initial goal of the book was to explore the figure of Pacelli in depth and try to resolve the mystery of his attitudes toward Jews. Cornwell refers to Hochhuth’s play about Pacelli that was staged in 1964 and represented him as a ruthless cynic disinterested in the fates of the Jews.3 Yet, most Catholics continued to consider such vision of Pacelli as implausible and unjustified. Meanwhile, only primary documents could help the author to resolve the conflict and tension between those who believed in the Pope’s innocence and those who did not. Cornwell writes that he was given access to secret materials, which included documents related to Pacelli’s canonization, his activities in Germany during Nazism, including his meetings and dealings with Hitler, as well as a written testimony of over one thousand pages, containing the writings of those who “had known Pacelli, as well as his critics”.4 That Cornwell decided to refer to primary documents became one of the most serious advantages of his written work. His commitment to unbiased vision and the striving to present primary evidence without distorting it are too persuasive to go unnoticed. The more compelling evidence Cornwell sought to present in his book the more sensational it became, especially to those, who had previously refused to believe in Pope’s involvement in the Nazi decisions and matters. Cornwell presents his findings in a systematic and well-organized manner. His book looks like a step-by-step exposure of the Pope’s vices and the deliberate debunking of myths. Cornwell is correct in that Pacelli’s personality uniquely combined the features of monklike prayer and the loyalty to authoritarianism and absolute leadership.5 The latter was, probably, the principal driver of the Pope’s decisions in Nazi Germany. According to Cornwell, the Pope was the sole promoter of absolute papal control and centralized papal autocracy, which dominated “the European religious environment until his death in 1958”.6 Paucelli’s commitment to Nazi ideals is easy to explain: Cornwell writes that at that time, Germany was among a few religious provinces in Europe that enjoyed the benefits of relative autonomy and independent decision-making.7 Germany was the only place Paucelli could realize his autocratic strivings, and it was due to Hitler that he was given an authoritarian advantage and an opportunity to make a brilliant religious career in accordance with his own beliefs and principles.8 Cornwell is confident that Paucelli’s authoritarian concordat was a tragedy for the whole German nation, but was the tragedy as serious as Cornwell wants to present it? This question is yet to be answered. In the meantime, Cornwell explored the development of the anti-Semitic trends in Germany under Hitler and the role which Paucelli played in exposing the Jews to the risk of extermination. Cornwell’s book is interesting in that it shows how Paucelli acted, to preserve his own position and, simultaneously, to avoid being condemned for the lack commitment and confidence toward humane values. The documents that claimed the discrimination against the Jews and associated them with Bolshevism were buried by Paucelli in his secret archives.9 In general terms, Cornwell found out that the following facts about Paucelli were of the utmost historical importance: 1. Paucelli’s hatred toward Jews dated back to 1917, which went against his claims regarding his positive attitudes and love toward the Jews and their religion.10 2. Paucelli exercised a belief that the Jews had participated in a plot against Christendom and thus could not deserve the attention and protection of the Catholic Church.11 3. The secret documents claim that Paucelli intentionally avoided discussing the issue of discrimination and extermination of the Jews, because that was the issue of German internal politics and in no way had to intervene with the religious atmosphere in German Catholicism.12 4. Paucelli did not strive to support German bishops in their condemnation of anti-Semitism and stayed away from any radical judgments: more importantly, he spread the belief that the Jews had been guilty of their own misfortune and had to accept their fate silently and without much opposition.13 5. When the Nazi regime came to an end, Paucelli tried to reassure the German public that he had done everything possible and impossible to protect the Jews from the discrimination – this, however, was only partially true. Paucelli’s phrase “Humanity owes this vow to those hundreds of thousands who, without any fault of their own, sometimes only by reason of their nationality and race, are marked for death and gradual extinction”, became the reflection of his commitment to the Nazi values.14 Cornwell’s book is a complex reflection and representation of the information, which the author found in the secret documents. This is, probably, one of the basic advantages of the book. Primary evidence bears the tint of objectivity and is difficult to argue or deny. However, what documents Cornwell used and whether they are credible enough to change the vision of history is questionable. Obviously, to pursue objectivity and reduce bias, historians require knowledge and skills needed to evaluate the truthfulness of the information and the authenticity of the document itself. Nevertheless, Cornwell tries to be as truthful and objective as possible – he does not try to deny the relevance of numerous viewpoints on Paucelli’s papacy but, on the contrary, tries to reconcile them in ways that create and approve a complicated picture of Paucelli’s contribution to the extermination of the Jews. For example, Paucelli’s decided to let religious houses in Rome accept and hide Jews from the SS.15 This act, however, was nothing but an attempt to reinforce his religious self-image in the eyes of the public – an attempt which did not give the Jews any chances to escape their tragic fate. Cornwell seems to be increasingly biased against the Pope’s personality and his place in the anti-Semitic policies in Nazi Germany. The book which had to be historical and objective is overfilled with emotions and subjective judgments. Throughout the book, Cornwell calls the Pope a perfect figure for the Nazi’s internal policies and an unchangeable hypocrite.16 These statements sometimes contradict to the initially historical aim of the book and turn it into a source of continuous condemnation of the Pope and his actions/ decisions in Germany. Nevertheless, the book is worth being read. It provides a novel insight into the problem of the religion-Nazism relationship during the World War II. The book exposes the vices of the Catholic church and proves Paucelli to be one of the central drivers of anti-Semitism in Europe. Those who study history could use this book as the foundation for the future analysis. Such analysis, however, must avoid subjectivity and bias and concentrate on the analysis of the facts pertinent to the topic of Cornwell’s discussion. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cornwell, J. Hitler’s Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII. London: Penguin, 2000. Read More