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Newly discovered letter shows Pope Pius XII likely knew about Nazi death camps
(JTA) — A newly uncovered letter provides the strongest evidence yet that Pope Pius XII knew about the Nazi extermination of the Jews as it was happening, the latest in a series of recent discoveries that have transformed the debate over the Catholic Church’s conduct during the Holocaust.
The letter was sent by Rev. Lothar Koenig, a German Jesuit priest, in December 1942, and informed Pius of the mass murder of thousands of “Poles and Jews” at Belzec, a Nazi death camp. It was discovered by Vatican archivist Giovanni Coco and first reported on this weekend.
Pius’ actions during the Holocaust have been the subject of debate for decades. While serving as a senior Vatican official before ascending to the papacy, Pius had signed a treaty with Nazi Germany. Later, as pope, he maintained a public silence as Italy’s Jews were rounded up and deported to death camps.
For years, some prominent Vatican historians have argued that the pope was indifferent to the fate of Europe’s Jews. Other scholars, meanwhile, have argued variously that Pius was unaware of the full extent of Nazi war crimes and that he pursued secret back channels to funnel as many Jews to safety as possible.
Scrutiny of Pius has intensified after Pope Francis unsealed the Vatican’s archives on Pius in 2019, an action he explained by saying “the church is not afraid of history.” Earlier this month, researchers uncovered documentation listing thousands of Jews who had been sheltered from the Nazis in Catholic convents and monasteries.
Koenig’s letter leaves little room for doubt about whether Pius knew of the Holocaust.
“It was already well established that Pius XII had early reports of the Nazis’ systematic efforts to exterminate the Jews of Europe,” David Kertzer, a Jewish Pulitzer-prize winning historian of the Vatican during World War II, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
But Kertzer said the recently discovered letter was important because it adds detail to the historical record regarding what Pius knew. The fact that its existence was made public by an official Vatican archivist, Kertzer added, “is a sign that there are those in the Vatican eager to see the Vatican face this history frankly.”
The letter was sent to the pope’s secretary, his closest adviser — which means that Pius almost certainly saw it, Coco said. Coco said that he was “99% sure” Pius saw the letter, a conclusion bolstered by the fact that the letter was found in the pope’s personal papers, according to The New York Times.
The letter, which describes the persecution of Catholics in Germany, includes the information about Belzec in an appendix. It also points to a longer trail of papal communication about the mass murders. There are references to reports of the death camp Auschwitz and the concentration camp Dachau, hinting at the existence of other documents sent to the Pope that haven’t been discovered yet.
“Many people were writing to the Holy See describing what was happening,” Michele Sarfatti, a researcher from the Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center in Milan, told the Times.
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The post Newly discovered letter shows Pope Pius XII likely knew about Nazi death camps appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Treasure Trove: How a Polish-Jewish artist told Canadians about the horrors of Nazi Germany and produced beautiful illustrations
Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) was a Polish-Jewish artist whose work reflected the historic times he lived: the two world wars, the rise of totalitarianism in Europe and the birth of the State of Israel. In 1940, with the support of the British government and the Polish government-in-exile, he visited Canada to popularize the struggle against Nazism. […]
The post Treasure Trove: How a Polish-Jewish artist told Canadians about the horrors of Nazi Germany and produced beautiful illustrations appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Biden hits Fundraising Trail in Show of Strength after Dismal Debate Performance
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., June 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
President Joe Biden embarks on a series of fundraising events across two states on Saturday as he works to stamp out a crisis of confidence in his re-election campaign following a feeble debate performance that dismayed his fellow Democrats.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will visit the upscale New York beach enclave known as the Hamptons for a campaign fundraiser hosted by hedge-fund billionaire Barry Rosentein. Later in the day, he will travel to New Jersey for a fundraiser hosted by wealthy New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat.
Fellow hedge-fund founder Eric Mindich and his Tony Award-winning producer wife Stacey, celebrity couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, and actor Michael J. Fox are all listed as members of the host committee at the New York event, according to an invitation seen by Reuters.
Biden told a rally in North Carolina on Friday he intended to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the November presidential election, giving no sign he would heed calls from Democrats who want him to drop out of the race.
Biden‘s verbal stumbles and occasionally meandering responses during Thursday night’s debate heightened voter concerns that the 81-year-old might not be fit to serve another four-year term.
The Biden campaign on Saturday boasted it had raised more than $27 million between debate day through Friday evening, but questions remain about whether the debate performance will hurt fundraising, at least in the short term.
The post Biden hits Fundraising Trail in Show of Strength after Dismal Debate Performance first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Arab League Rescinds the Classification of Hezbollah as a Terrorist Group
Mourners carry a coffin during the funeral of Wissam Tawil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces who according to Lebanese security sources was killed during an Israeli strike on south Lebanon, in Khirbet Selm, Lebanon, Jan. 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher
i24 News – The Arab League no longer defines Hezbollah as a proscribed terrorist group, an official said on Saturday.
Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shiite militia and a proxy of the Islamic regime in Iran, boasts the world’s largest rocket arsenal of any non-state actor. It is animated by the antisemitic ideology of jihad and is committed to the destruction of Israel.
“In earlier Arab League decisions, Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist organization, and this designation was reflected in the resolutions,” Hossam Zaki, the assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, was quoted in Arab media as saying.
“The League’s member states concurred that the labeling of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization should no longer be employed,” Zaki said, adding that the regional body “does not maintain terrorist lists and does not actively seek to designate entities in such a manner.”
Hezbollah has unleashed numerous rockets, mortars and drones on northern Israel in the past eight months starting on October 8, a day after the Jewish state suffered the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust at the hands of the Palestinian jihadists of Hamas.
The post Arab League Rescinds the Classification of Hezbollah as a Terrorist Group first appeared on Algemeiner.com.