 [Larger view] | Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy
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 Read this book first: best review of the subject so far! | |
| Having read several recent books on this subject, I find that an author's bias is reflected in his/her writing more on this issue than perhaps on any other. This is particularly striking in the recent Rychlak book ("Hitler, the War, and the Pope") which is unabashed propaganda, veiled thinly or not at all. Even the more objective Cornwell book ("Hitler's Pope"), although it supports the opposite side of the debate, has occasional undertones of prejudice. In contrast to these and some other authors, Zuccotti presents her arguments by giving fair consideration to both sides of the issue. Her fine scholarship is evident throughout this entire study, which is meticulously annotated and documented, but her writing is directed to general readers of history, rather than to her professional peers. The book makes for very enjoyable reading on this painfully tragic subject. Anyone who is interested in reading about Eugenio Pacelli (Pope Pius XII) and his efforts--or lack thereof--to reduce or even address the persecution of European Jews before and during World War II should begin with this book. | |
 sheltered | |
| The author must be a young person, who has led a relatively sheltered life. Anyone who was there knows that the Resistance, by its very nature, worked in secret. For example, the author failed to thoroughly research the Asissi Underground. Under the Pope's order to the bishop, Jews arrived there from Rome, were sheltered in convents and monasteries, provided with false identities, and smuggled to Genoa for passage on neutral ships. In the RC church of those days, obedience was paramount. Orders always came from above. No one would lift the cloister without Papal permission, even to shelter Jews. Ms. Zuccotti ignores the tragedy of Hitler's predictable reprisals. Whenever church leaders spoke publicly against persecution of Jews, as in the Netherlands, more Jews were rounded up and sent to extermination camps. The Pope did speak out as much as possible, as documented by the New York Times, noting his was "the only voice." At the time, few countries, including the USA, would accept Jewish refugees. All U.S. ports refused to let the St. Louis dock here, sending Jewish passengers back to Europe and death. Only false identity papers and Catholic baptismal certificates, provided by the Church at the Pope's order, allowed Jews to sail to neutral countries. The author fails to explain why the ranks of the Swiss Guard in the Vatican suddenly swelled, or why so many Jews were camped out in the subterranean depths of the Pope's summer residence at Castelgandolfo. These numbers are all documented. She also ignores the testimony of the Chief Rabbi of Rome concerning the Pope's help. When Hitler demanded gold from the Jewish Community in exchange for their lives, it was the Pope who offered to make up the shortage. Has she actually read Rabbi Zolli's book "Before the Dawn"? The wisdom of experience with the true evil of the powerful Nazi regime is missing from this book, and renders it rather sophomoric. | |
| Not so very complicated | |
| Everything that needs to be understood about the issues involved were summed up in the actions of the Chief Rabbi of Rome in the aftermath of the war. I found no discussion of same here. Perhaps recent generations don't understand that Italy was allied to Germany; the Vatican contribution, given this, was astonishing in its quiet - but determined - humanitarian integrity. The Nazis, too, had a church. The church in Germany had windows under which Ms Zucotti might more profitably gaze. |
