The Vatican had information in regards to the Holocaust orchestrated by the Nazi regime in German-occupied Poland, revealed a World War II period letter despatched to the then Pope Pius XII.
A German Jesuit priest by the identify of Rev. Lothar Koenig had written to the Pope’s Secretary Rev. Robert Leiber on December 14, 1942, detailing how Nazis have been killing as much as 6,000 Poles and Jews day by day from Rava Ruska (now in Ukraine) and transporting their our bodies to the Belzec extermination camp.
The letter, which is part of Vatican archives, was revealed by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Sunday (September 17) and was first found by found by Vatican archivist Giovanni Coco in 2019.
Letter by German Jesuit places the Catholic Church within the spot
Although the Catholic Church and its apologists have all the time claimed that it couldn’t confirm reviews about Nazi crimes then, the letter raises doubts in regards to the assertion of the Vatican.
According to Giovanni Coco, Rev. Lothar Koenig was a revered German Jesuit who was in a position to go on details about Nazi’s extermination of Jews to the Holy See.
“The novelty and importance of this document comes from this fact: that on the Holocaust, there is now the certainty that Pius XII was receiving from the German Catholic Church exact and detailed news about crimes being perpetrated against Jews,” he advised Corriere della Sera.
First letter to say ‘Jews being killed’ explicitly
According to anthropologist David Kertzer, the letter by Rev. Lothar Koenig held significance because it was the primary time a reference was made to ‘Jews being gassed in ovens.’
While some doubts stay about whether or not Pope Pius XII noticed the letter, it should be talked about that he and his Secretary Rev. Robert Leiber shared an important working relationship on issues pertaining to Germany.
Lieber was reportedly the Vatican’s ambassador to Germany in the course of the Nineteen Twenties and was Pius XII’s prime aide. Interestingly, the letter by the German Jesuit urged the Catholic Church to not make the matter public, fearing threats to his personal life and that of others.
This argument is utilized by the supporters of the then-Pope to justify his silent stance on the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime.
The sordid previous of the Catholic Church
In July 1933, the Vatican had solid a take care of the newly rising Nazi authorities in Germany. The treaty was dubbed as ‘Reichskonkordat‘ or a ‘concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich’.
It was signed by signed by the then Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, and German Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen. The treaty supplied much-needed recognition to Hitler’s dictatorship and granted it legitimacy.
Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli needed much less governmental interference within the affairs of the Church by the Nazi regime and disliked Communism, similar to Hitler.
“The Reichskonkordat effectively removed the German Catholic Church from any continued role of opposition to Hitler. More than that, as Hitler told his cabinet on July 14, it established a context that would be ‘especially significant in the urgent struggle against international Jewry,” wrote James Caroll in his e-book ‘Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews.’
In May 2020, Germany’s council of Catholic bishops admitted that the Church was complicit within the actions of the Nazi regime in the course of the Second World War.
