The Pope’s defenders point to his numerous actions behind the scenes that helped save persecuted Jews.
Until earlier this year, the Yad Vashem memorial’s exhibit on Pope Pius XII mainly echoed his critics, saying the Pope “did not protest” the murder of Jews.
Good to know.
The exhibit still criticizes “a lack of clear guidance” and instances of silence from the Vatican during the Nazi era.
Catholic ping!
Lack of clear guidance? What exactly does that mean? The Pope was one of very few national leaders who was speaking out forcefully against the Nazis. The only reason some priests didn't do so within their parishes was because they didn't want to bring down the Nazis against their congregations in German held areas. But there were some priests who did help hide Jews in their own areas, with the help of people from their parishes. There were convents and monasteries in countries occupied by the Germans that hid Jewish children, until their parents could come back and get them. Some parents died, but some did make it back.
My husband's major professor in college was born in Poland, but when things started looking bad, his mother took him to a local convent and asked them to keep him until things settled down, and they could come back. It was much easier to get out, if they didn't bring him along, and they knew he'd be safe. Since they got away before the Germans shut things down completely, they survived, and returned for him, after the war, eventually moving to Israel.
The fact that there were ANY Jews left in Europe was due, in large part, to the actions of Christians all over the Continent.