ebooks The Pope's Jews: The Vatican's Secret Plan to Save Jews from the Nazis by Gordon Thomas in History

Review

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful. THE REST OF THE STORYBy SCIPIO"The Pope's Jews" by Gordon Thomas" describes the words and actions of Pope Pius's XII during World War II. World War II was like an exploding volcano hurling death and destruction everywhere. The casualties were enormous Russia had about 10 million war dead and about 14 million dead as a result of crimes against humanity- religious and class persecution.. In Poland; about 5 million were killed as a result of crimes against humanity. The Germans sustained more than 5 million "military deaths" and about 3 million dead as a result of collateral deaths and crimes against humanity in Germany.The related information is grounded in reality and adds to the knowledge of what is known.Pope Pius XII had no divisions and had no weapons. Yet; despite the lack of resources he was instrumental in saving many lives. What he had and those who cooperated with him had been made available to the persecuted. On a visit to the United State Pacelli later to become Pius XII "silenced" a popular priest for perceived anti-Semitism. and CBS lost an audience of thirty million every Sunday afternoon.Even before the war started; he told the church leaders to help Jews leave Germany with the financial assistance of the Church. At pg. 49 of the book the author recounts the morning of September 1; 1939 (The day Hitler invaded Poland).On that morning; the Pope issued encoded orders to Archbishop Pacini in Poland to start organizing Poland's Jews into hiding places in every available shelter. A second encoded message went to Monsignor Ironically in Istanbul "to prepare thousands of baptismal certificates to give Jews; which would allow them passage through Turkey to the Holy Land."Other messages were to be sent to all other nuncios and bishops in neutral countries ordering them to increase "all pressure you can on their host governments to provide visas for Polish Jews.".He also contacted Fr. Alan Weber to set up a network to help German Jews to emigrate from Germany to Rome.The fact that the baptismal certificates were actually issued and provision made where possible reinforces the conclusion that the messages were sent; received and acted upon While those who did little or nothing to help the persecuted in Germany and Russia wrung their hands criticizing Pius XII; he was one of the few who actually did do something whereby many lives were saved. In "Jews" by George E. Berkley on page 202 in the paragraph starting `When the deportations began...similar actions are described in the Pope's attempts to aid the persecuted people. While the world slept and denied what they knew was happening; it appears that somebody was doing something. When the veterans came home they showed us photos of the atrocities. The holocaust happened and so few did anything. The dead were truly our brothers and sisters.As the facts become known and are known justice to the victims deserves an honest and fair appraisal of what happened and an honest understanding as to the challenges confronting leaders and those who did what they could to help them.The activities of the Pontiff were necessarily in secret; but the effects of what he ordered such as the preparation of baptismal certificates did take place; people were housed and fed in Church facilities. Playing cat and mouse with Hitler and his goons took extraordinary courage; intelligence and prudence when you are not the cat.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Which is too bad because I know enough to know that the author ...By Green Mountain MamaNo footnotes; endnotes or citations of any kind. Which is too bad because I know enough to know that the author is being factual- I just would have appreciated if he'd credited his sources. Especially his source is an interview that he's conducted. Also; sprinkled liberally through out are teaser sentences that I wasn't a fan of. This book is semi-novelized. The descriptions of the times and places novelized portions are the strongest bits. If the author had stuck to that this would have been a more cohesive book. As it is it's a frankenbook- part novelized non-fiction first-person accounts; part (incredibly weak) academic work.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Calumnies UndoneBy david ritchieThomas painstakingly shows that Israeli Diplomat Pinchas Lapide had it right back in 1967 when his book (Three Popes and the Jews) concluded that Pius XII was responsible for the activities of the Italian Catholic Church in hiding many Jews during WWII. Later writers (including the gross calumniator Cornwall) have challenged Pius's connection to those activities and claimed: "sure; there were good Catholics; but Pius wasn't one of them. In fact; he always loved the Nazis." Thomas's deep research into Pius's actions shows that the charge is without substance. Thomas writes well and lays out the chronology of Pius's actions against the bigger picture of the on-going war in a way that illuminates just what the stakes were during those dangerous days.