Posted on 06/04/2007 7:00:22 PM PDT by Frank Sheed
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments: How Hitler and Pope Pius XII plotted against one another as the lives of Rome's Jews were held in the balance. How a high-ranking SS officer played a treacherous game of deception. How a pope's silence saved the Vatican. In September, 1943, Adolf Hitler, Furious at the ouster of Mussolini, sent German troops into Rome and ordered SS General Karl Wolff, who had been Heinrich Himmler's chief aide, to occupy the Vatican and kidnap (and, perhaps, kill) Pope Pius XII. At the same time plans were being made to deport Rome's Jews to Auschwitz, Wolff began playing a dangerous game: stalling Hitler's plot against the pope, whom he hoped would save him from the noose in case Germany lost the war. To save Pius, Wolff and fellow conspirators black-mailed him into silence when the Jews were rounded up, hoping that Hitler would rescind his order. This tale of intrigue and betrayal is one of the most important untold stories of World War II. Dan Kurzman was the first journalist to have interviewed General Wolff following his release from prison after the war. And this is the only book to tell the full behind-the-scenes story of the plot against the Vatican and its far-reaching consequences.
Review: "Veteran popular historian Kurzman (The Bravest Battle) relates how a Hitler-Himmler order in 1943 to kidnap the pope and seize Vatican files and treasures was twice delayed and finally undermined by a group of high German officers and officials in Rome. The foilers were headed by the SS leader in Italy, Gen. Karl Wolff, whom Kurzman interviewed before his death in 1984. Kurzman demonstrates that Hitler wanted the Vatican neutralized because he thought the pope had aided the overthrow of Mussolini in 1943 and feared that the Church's leader would denounce the Final Solution in general and the imminent deportation of Rome's Jews in particular. Wolff and others in Rome, meanwhile, hoped to use the pope as an intermediary for a negotiated peace and an Anglo-American-German campaign against the Soviets. Kurzman also touches upon such related topics as the 1933 Nazi-Vatican Concordat, how Pius's silence on the murder of the Jews was partly rooted in excessive fears of a Soviet takeover of the Vatican, and the curious role of Rome's chief rabbi, Israel Zolli, who ultimately converted to Catholicism. Kurzman does a good job of telling a suspenseful and little-known story of WWII intrigue. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Synopsis: From the author of "The Bravest Battle, Special Mission" reveals how Hitler and Pope Pius XII plotted against one another in 1943 as the lives of Rome's Jews were held in the balance.
Product Details
ISBN: 9780306814686; Subtitle: Hitler's Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican and Kidnap Pope Pius XII; Author: Kurzman, Dan; Author: Kurzman, Dan; Publisher: Perseus Books Group; Subject: General; Subject: Christianity - History - Catholic; Subject: Europe - Germany; Subject: Military - World War II; Subject: Holocaust, jewish (1939-1945); Subject: Catholic church; Publication Date: May 2007; Language: English; Illustrations: Y; Pages: 285.
This book was announced today on the Catholic World News website.
Pius XII PING!
Frankly, I've never understood how anyone with even a cursory knowledge of World War II and the Third Reich could ever buy the "Hitler's Pope" garbage.
This sounds like it could certainly be interesting. It sounds like it gives a positive portrayal of Pope Pius XII.
Because they have an agenda. It most cases it's the secular "I hate the Church out of general principal" folk.
I was actually going to say that for those who believe the lies about him it won’t make any difference and for those who don’t no book is needed. I really do think it will be a good book though.
Seen in Washington, DC
The "new" pastor at Old St. Mary's in Washington, DC (he has been there for almost a year) has been doing some repairs around the parish. In preparation for repainting the walls of the sacristy, he removed some framed pictures on the wall. One was a painting of Pope John Paul II. The frame was in need of some work as well, so he took the painting out of the frame. Behind the painting, he found another painting of an earlier pope. This is what he found.
I disagree. It is just about setting up the Church for lawsuits.
Ping to read later
Agenda. Yad Vashem had demanded the Vatican release documents relating to WWII and that the Vatican stop the plan to Cannonize Pius XII. What’s amazing about that is Yad Vashem has honored many priests, bishops and clergy that testified that they were acting on specific orders from Pius XII. Their proof that he was Hitler’s pope came from a forged letter that no one including the NYTimes has bothered to verify. Oh, and the NYTimes in the early 40’s published articles about Pius being the lone voice in Europe to speak out for the Jews.
Thanks for posting this. I recently saw the book at a local Barnes & Noble here in Northern VA and I grabbed it fast! I haven’t read it yet, but it looks very interesting.
People often believe what they want to believe.
I used to do that, to some extent. But once you fully realize that God is Truth itself, you realize that there is no reason to fear the any truth.
The only caveat is that truth can be distorted by selective truth telling, which is a variant of lying.
I’ll have to put Speer’s book on my reading list.
Another one I’ve neglected to read is the classic, “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Shirer.
Kurzman, who has written 16 other books, said he had no opinion on whether Pope Pius XII should be beatified or canonized, but wanted to clear up certain untruths contained in "Hitler's Pope," a 1999 book by English author John Cornwell.
"He was a human being and he made mistakes, but I found no evidence that he was anti-Semitic," Kurzman said of Pope Pius. He said a letter cited by Cornwell containing an anti-Semitic remark was not written by the pope but by an aide and did not reflect the pope's views.
We always had a portrait of His Holiness on the wall in my home as I grew up. I remember that vividly.
F
What a cool find!
The book sounds great.
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