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“My primary scope of interest, however, and the area I am most deeply involved with now, is better understanding the Vatican’s complacency during the Holocaust, and in particular the role of Pius XII in collaborating with the Nazis. I have a deeply personal stake in this matter, Michael, as a survivor of Dachau myself. I was but a small child at the time, of course, but I watched as my mother and father suffered all manner of torture. I will never forget the smell of the smoke of my parents coming from the crematoriums after being gassed.
The Vatican arranged for new identities and passports for those criminals and dozens more, along with guaranteed passage to safe havens like Argentina, Brazil, Australia, even the United States.
Ustasha had sent 200 million Swiss francs directly to the Vatican, presumably with the complicity of Pope Pius XII. The Vatican had maintained full diplomatic relations with the Ustasha, and after the war ended, had facilitated the escape of Nazi war criminals
safe havens through ratlines operated by Catholic priests, notably those of the Franciscan order.
Cairo in 1896—a Gnostic text called the Gospel of Mary—which was translated
Mariam of Magdala. This is my account of Jesus of Nazareth. To stave off those who might seek to defile our Lord’s remains, in haste I have departed Jerusalem, the land which holds the misery of our Lord’s persecution, and in secret I have taken my husband’s body to Gaul, where his remains shall be buried next to mine when my own time comes.
After his crucifixion, the Lord came to me as in a vision, “Mistake not my resurrection as being of the body, my beloved, for it was only my spirit that ascended into my father’s kingdom, as will yours when you depart this life.” Then I said to Peter, “Peter, do not tell the others, but it was the spirit of our Lord which left this world. His body did not ascend as the others believe… Joseph of Arimathea helped me move our Lord’s body from the cave and take it to safety, for when we fled the Romans.”
especially Americans, he thought, who had no sense of decorum for time and place.
And still, the pope said nothing.
