Pius XII was pope during the Second World War – and never explicitly condemned the Holocaust. Now a letter has emerged that is intended to prove that the church leader knew about the concentration camps as early as mid-1942, months before he implicitly spoke about them in his 1942 Christmas message. Markus Ries, professor of church history, explains why the timing is so important.
SRF: A letter from a Jesuit from 1942 was found in the archive. This now proves beyond a doubt that Pope Pius XII. knew about the Holocaust during the Second World War?
Markus Ries: It’s mainly about the timing. It is undisputed that he knew this at the end of the war. History books have been talking about 1942 for a long time. But the distinction is very important: Was it the end of 1942, the middle or even before? Now we can say with certainty: in mid-1942 he knew about these extermination camps.
Why is it important to know when exactly Pius XII. knew about the mass extermination of Jews in the Third Reich?
The question “When did we know?” is very important for everyone affected and involved. In the regions where the extermination camps were located, there is a discussion: “When did the neighbors know?” And there is the discussion “When did the Allies know” as well as “When did the Federal Council in Bern know?”
The crucial question is: could Pius have done something for the threatened people?
The question that concerns Pius is what options would have been available to him to do something. Could he have done something for the people in danger?
Basically, in church history we are primarily concerned with the question: How could anti-Semitism come about? where are they? Most of those who did this were at least originally believers in Christianity? Or was it possible because of that? because were they Christian believers or Catholic? These questions arise at all levels, including, of course, the Pope.
Legend:
Portrait of Pope Pius XII (1876-1958), who was head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1939 until his death.
KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS ARCHIVE/Str
So there will still be a lot to work through. What consequences do you expect?
It’s not just about whether the Pope remained cowardly silent, but also about whether he actually encouraged the whole thing or made it possible? Or did he try to use clever tactics – and then misjudge the situation? There are different assessments of this. The question of when people knew about the extermination camps also plays a role.
But the last word is far from spoken.
No, titles like “Hitler’s Pope”, the “Erfüghilfe”, for example, bear witness to this. And on the other side “Hitler’s victims”. There’s the whole spectrum.
Last week the abuse cases, now this letter: Is the Catholic Church currently in a free fall because of all these negative voices?
I don’t see her in free fall, but I see her standing on the edge. It is terrible to see what happened up until the 1980s, what crimes were possible here because of collective failure. Corrections need to be made here.
In 1945 people were also shocked at what Christian believers could do to their fellow Jews. This has actually led to completely different conditions today. That is exactly a reason for hope and confidence.
The interview was conducted by Bodo Frick.