Pius XII and the Second World War According to the Archives of the Vatican

by Pierre Blet SJ, Lawrence J. Johnson (Translator)

This book hopes to resolve but in the end may add to the controversy whether Pius XII was cold and unfeeling toward the Jews during World War II. In answer to the charge, the Vatican diplomatic archives for that period were opened over thirty years ago. The twelve volumes published in Italian were largely ignored, though the controversy continued. Here now, available in English for the first time, is a one-volume summary recently written by one of the original historians to work on the archives. This detailed chronological report follows day by day and sometimes hour by hour the work of Pius XII and his associates from May 1939, when the Germans marched into Prague just three days after he was raised to the papacy, until the very end of the war. Included are his public statements, speeches, messages, and letters exchanged with civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries, as well as details of his secret maneuvering to forestall the ruin of Europe and to offer relief where possible. The Pope faced an untenable situation. Recorded are both his own doubts about the extent of his actions as well as the vigorous praise of contemporary statesmen. Previous charges against Pius XII have been based on scanty evidence. Here at last is evidence, yet each side will undoubtedly find in it fuel for its own argument. The book is a revelation, showing the hitherto unknown efforts the Pope took to advance peace, but the haunting question did he do enough? Only readers of this book will be able to judge. This is a critical title for church historians, holocaust scholars, World War II historians, and anyone involved in the Jewish-Christian dialogue. †

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Biography

368 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Adam‘’s book reviews]

Pius XII and the Second World War According to the Archives of the Vatican by Pierre Blet


This book is OK two out of five stars


This book read more like an academic study of Pius XII instead of what I thought would be a memoir. Pierre Blet Mentioned that this is a synopsis for lack of a better term of a larger multi volume set re-counting the day today life of the pope unfortunately I found it very difficult to follow as I am not well-versed in 1930s and 1940s politics especially when it comes to The Vatican hierarchy and who is who. Blet Expects you to know and understand all the different Cardinals and who the secretary of the Vatican is without explaining it, Leaving my Head spinning after a while.

In addition the author takes an unorthodox approach to writing and setting up this text. The author seems to compartmentalize all the different issues of the time instead of making a nice Linjer timeline leaving it up to the reader to make connections instead.

So for those two main reasons I only give this book a two star rating out of the Possible five star rating

[Mike Glaser]

A well balanced book. Spells out what Pius XII and the Vatican did during the war to try and alleviate the suffering of the civilian population. Could the pope have done more? Possibly, but it would likely have led to more suffering in the short term and any potential positive outcome is purely hypothetical. Compared to what others actually did though, Pius XII's efforts were both laudable and significant. The one negative comment I would add is that the book only skims over what happened in the Pacific theater of the war. I would have liked to have seen that addressed more fully.

[Fr. Peter Calabrese]

A bit scholarly and thus can be tedious. Nevertheless a well documented explanation of Prius XII’s actions during World War II is a necessity for honesty’s sake. It is a glimpse also into the delicate intertwining of Faith, idealism, and fidelity to the Gospel in times of great physical and spiritual peril. Perhaps in Light of the current political climate may offer even insights for this era. Well worth the read but requires a bit of perseverance

[RICHARD T. DUNBAR]

Remarkable diplomacy

This is a very interesting and insightful work examining the extraordinary diplomatic efforts of the Holy See to intercede for the victims of World War II.