Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Revisionists: Essays

by Patrick J. Gallo (Editor)

Overview

When Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli became Pope Pius XII in 1939, the Nazis had invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia and were poised to strike Poland. Jews and other minorities were already being sent to concentration camps, and the world was on the verge of another horrific war. The prevailing historical interpretation of the era was that Pius XII had a stated anti-Nazi and anti-Fascist policy; he tried to bring an end to the persecution and gave aid and comfort to those who were persecuted. Revisionist views, however, portray Pius XII as a silent, passive individual who ignored the treatment of Jews, Christians and other minorities--a man who could have stopped the holocaust and didn't.

Through a series of articles and essays, the editor and eight contributors critique the works of revisionists who allege that Pius XII was sympathetic to the Nazis or unresistant to their atrocities. The essays discuss the roots of these views in the relentless Nazi and communist propaganda of the era, and the debate's revival after a 1960s stage play portrayed the pope as a leader afraid to speak out. By bringing intellectual rigor and responsibility to the issue, this work makes a solid contribution to the history of the papacy and to the biography of Pius XII.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786423743
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	12/06/2005
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.46(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Patrick J. Gallo is adjunct professor of political science at New York University and has authored 10 other books. He has been a scholar-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome, a Fulbright Scholar and an NEH Fellow.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction     

1. Beyond The Deputy: Origins of the New Revisionism
Patrick J. Gallo     
2. The Road to Dachau
Patrick J. Gallo     
3. Pius XI, Pius XII, and the Führer: Peter Godman Against Two Men of
Matteo Luigi Napolitano     
4. Pius XI's Hidden Encyclical: An Appraisal
George Sim Johnson     
5. We Have Contended with Diabolical Forces
Patrick J. Gallo     
6. The Pope and the Shoah
Justus George Lawler     
7. The Pope Pius XII Controversy: A Review Article
Kenneth D. Whitehead     
8. Interventions by the Pope and the Nuncio
Jenö Levai     
9. To Halt the Dreadful Crime
Patrick J. Gallo     
10. Zuccotti's Lack of Evidence
Ronald Rychlak     
11. Via Rasella and the Ardeatine Massacre
Patrick J. Gallo     
12. Constantine's Sword: A Review Article
Robert P. Lockwood     
13. Goldhagen vs. Christianity
Ronald Rychlak     
Epilogue: The End of the Pius Wars
Joseph Bottum     

Chapter Notes     
About the Contributors     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

critical—and devastating—reviews on the work of anti–Pius or anti–Church writers...astute...documentation...literally irrefutable...this single book alone virtually destroys the anti–Pius position”—Kenneth D. Whitehead, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

From the Publisher