-Caveat Lector-
Pius XII felt Nazi atrocities exaggerated-report
By Arthur Spiegelman
LOS ANGELES, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Pope Pius XII told the United States in 1942
he thought reports of German atrocities against Jews were exaggerated and
that he could not denounce the Nazis without criticising the Soviet Union,
according to a newly-discovered document in the U.S. National Archives.
The document -- a secret report by the U.S. envoy to the Vatican during the
war on a 40-minute meeting he had with the Pontiff on Dec. 30, 1942 -- also
quoted Pius as saying that he would, however, publicly condemn the Allies if
they carried out a threat to bomb Rome.
The letter by envoy Harold Tittmann's to the U.S. Secretary of State, a copy
of which was obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, offers new insight into the
wartime thinking of Pius XII, who has been frequently criticised by Jewish
groups and others for failing to speak out against the Nazis during the war.
A controversial new book by British journalist John Cornwell, ``Hitler's
Pope, the Secret History of Pius XII,'' says the Pontiff minimised the
Holocaust because he was a Germanophile and that he held anti-Semitic views
before becoming Pope in 1939.
Pius, during his meeting with Tittmann, is surprised when the diplomat tells
him that there are people who did not accept that he had finally publicly
condemned the Nazis in his famous Christmas message of 1942 in which he
declared that people were being killed because of their ``race and
nationality.'' Many thought that the message was too indirect.
``EXAGGERATION FOR PURPOSES OF PROPAGANDA''
Tittmann said in his ``strictly confidential'' four-page report, ``(the Pope)
stated that he 'feared' that there was foundation for the atrocity reports of
the Allies, but he led me to believe that he felt there had been some
exaggeration for purposes of propaganda.''
The diplomat added, ``With regard to his Christmas message, the Pope gave me
the impression that he was sincere in believing that he had spoken therein
clearly enough to satisfy all those who had been insisting in the past that
he utter some word of condemnation of the Nazi atrocities and he seemed
surprised when I told him that I thought there were some who did not share
his belief.
``He said that he thought that it was plain to everyone he was referring to
the Poles, Jews, and hostages when he declared that hundreds of thousands of
persons had been killed or tortured through no fault of their own, sometimes
only because of their race and nationality. He explained that when talking of
atrocities he could not name the Nazis without mentioning at the same time
the Bolsheviks, and this, he thought, might not be wholly pleasing to the
Allies.''
THREATS TO BOMB ROME
The American diplomat said the Pope was concerned about threats being made
over the BBC that the Allies would bomb Rome, although ``he did not himself
feel in the least apprehensive because he could not imagine that the Allies
would do such a thing when there was so little to gain and so much to lose.''
Tittmann said, ``He made it clear that if Rome was bombed, he would be
obliged to make a solemn and public protest and added that he was certain
that the combined effect of the bombing and protest of Catholics throughout
the world could only be hurtful to the cause of the Allies.''
The Vatican has rejected accusations that Pius was an anti-Semite and Nazi
sympathiser who turned a blind eye to the Holocaust. ``He certainly was not
(an anti-Semite). He helped the Jews,'' said Father Pierre Blet, the
Vatican's leading historian on the Second World War.
Blet, author of a new book on the subject, said at a press conference earlier
this month, ``The public silence (of Pius XII) was the cover for a secret
activity through Vatican embassies and bishoprics to try to stop the
deportations.''
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