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Actually, he did not. He entered an underground seminary, but not until 1943, and in his own words didn't do anything to save Polish Jews. He is a good man, and feels terrible about it (what human being wouldn't?). He really wasn't in any position to do anything about the Holocaust.

John Paul II did not collude with the Nazis or do nothing to resist the occupation, which is one of the libels against him.

He has not, however, acted expeditiously to reverse 2000 years of anti-Jewish intrigue by his church. Unlike Paul VI, he refers to Israel by name, but didn't establish relations between the Vatican and Israel until 1994, fifteen years after taking on the Big Chair.

And, after his seemingly stunning visit to Israel, he issued a joint communique with Yasser Arafat, and later traveled to Syria. This took place near the Golan Heights, where he should not have gone, as it was a propaganda show by the Syrians. Syrian "Christian" leaders spouted out the worst kinds of anti-Jewish garbage. When JPII tried to rebut this, there was a call to prayer and his words were cut off. IOW, his handlers in the Vatican permitted this to take place precisely because his church still is filled with those who hate the Jews.

Pope John Paul II's Pilgrimage to Israel
by Mitchell Bard
March 21-26, 2000
The Pope has also warmed relations between the Vatican and Israel, which were frayed for nearly half a decade. No pontiff has ventured into the Holy Land since Pope Paul VI visited for just 11 hours in 1964. The Vatican and Israel had no diplomatic ties until 1994, and the two sides were so estranged that Paul VI traveled only to Christian religious sites, never mentioned Israel by name in public and refused to address the Israeli president at the time, Zalman Shazar, by his title. In 1993, however, John Paul II agreed to the Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and Israel establishing relations between the two states and, in 1997, the Legal Personality Agreement recognizing church officials in Israel.
What did Pope John Paul II do in World War II?
by Ann Rodgers-Melnick
Sunday, March 05, 2000
Wojtyla, who was penniless even before the war, had lived for just one year in a tiny basement apartment in Krakow. When he briefly sheltered a girl from his hometown who was trying to escape slave labor, his landlords told him to send her away because they would not risk an unregistered tenant... He was pledged to UNIA, which ran 20,000 guerrillas, provided false papers to 50,000 Jews, and hid 2,500 Jewish children. UNIA also sponsored "cultural resistance," which involved upholding a vision of a democracy, human rights, faith and religious freedom. Wojtyla -- who was an aspiring actor -- was part of an underground theater company that fostered those ideals through secret plays held in homes... The actors would have been executed if they had been caught. His entrance into the underground seminary in 1943 placed his life in even greater danger... [F]ilm maker Marek Halter, who had wanted to include John Paul in a documentary on rescuers. Halter said he asked the pope if he had many Jewish friends before the war, and John Paul said "yes." Halter then asked if John Paul had done anything to save them, and the pope said, "I don't believe I -- no. No." ...When the war came, Wojtyla was 30 miles away in Krakow, without a car or telephone and with Germans in between. Certainly he feels terrible that he did not help his friends... Wojtyla was raised among Jews in Wadowice, where he sometimes played goalie on the synagogue soccer team. The cardinal archbishop of Warsaw was an outspoken anti-Semite, but Wojtyla's parish priests refused to propagate the cardinal's teaching. John Paul recalls his pastor preaching that anti-Semitism is anti-Christian... His skills and circumstances may have dictated that he play one role and not another in the resistance. But he risked everything to resist and to urge others to do likewise. To say that he did nothing is an attempt to rewrite history. And one of the enduring lessons of the Holocaust is that such revision is the root of great evil.
Pope wants EU to call itself Christian
by Roland Flamini
January 23, 2003
The Vatican argument is that Christianity's fundamental role in shaping European culture should be acknowledged in what is destined to become the EU's key document... A reference to the EU as a Christian institution would further complicate the debate in Europe over whether Turkey is eligible for admission, some analysts said. Turkey, officially a secular state, is seeing a revival of its Muslim origins... European sources said the Turkey issue is only a secondary point. Although the picture was mixed, few of the 15 EU member states, and of the new members scheduled to join in the next two years, include a reference to religion in their respective constitutions... Putting an emphasis on Christian values now could alienate the large immigrant populations of Muslims that now reside in virtually every member country.
Vatican Controlled by Jews, Say Syrian Academics
Soheil Zakar, one of Syria's top historians, recently argued that "immense pressure" by American and European Zionist groups forced the Vatican in 1965 to absolve the Jews from the "historical responsibility" for the death of Jesus. Zakar, a Muslim whose 1983 book Popes From the Jewish Ghetto claims that three medieval popes were of Jewish origin. A Syrian Catholic historian, Michel Munir, alleges in a new book that Pope John Paul is the architect of a conspiracy to undermine the Catholic church by placing it under the control of Jews. Munir's book hit bookstores about a month before the pope's visit. The papal trip to Syria was meant in part to trace the travels of St. Paul, who spread the Christian faith throughout the Roman empire in the first century after he had a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus.
EU wary of ending Israel's isolation at UN
Reuters
Under arcane United Nations rules, Israel should be part of the Asian regional group, which includes its Middle East neighbors. But Arab nations have opposed its membership for years so Israel is seeking a place in the Western group. Many committee posts as well as the 10 nonpermanent seats on the Security Council are nominated by regional groups to retain a geographical balance. Although some countries never get nominated for a seat, only Israel cannot compete at all... Within the European Community, diplomats said Germany, Sweden and Belgium were strongly in favor of Israeli membership while France and Britain kept a low profile. At the Nov. 26 meeting, Spain was said to have raised objections although Italy, Ireland and Portugal had voiced reservations in earlier discussions, diplomats said.
Israel Halts Mosque Construction
by Jamie Tarabay
Mar 3 2002
Israel announced a permanent halt Sunday on construction of a large mosque next to the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, drawing strong condemnation from Muslims in the biblical town. The Islamic Movement in Nazareth, the group that wants to build the mosque, accused Christian leaders abroad of meddling in a local affair and said it would not abandon its plans... Christian leaders have said that building a mosque so close to the Basilica - the largest in the Middle East and the site where tradition says the Angel Gabriel foretold Jesus' birth - would be disrespectful. Pope John Paul II threatened to cancel a visit in 2000 over the issue... Natan Sharansky, the Israeli Cabinet minister in charge of a committee the government set up last month to resolve the dispute, announced Sunday that construction of the mosque would be halted for good... Sharansky accused representatives of the Islamic Movement in Nazareth of intimidating Arab Christians in the city of 70,000 and warned extremists not to violate the government's decision.