Title: Mlčal pápež Pius XII. o holokauste? Posun v historickom výskume po otvorení vatikánskych archívov
(Was Pope Pius XII silent about the Holocaust? A shift in historical research after the opening of the Vatican archives) – pdf
Abstract: The article discusses the state of art concerning the explanations of attitude and reactions of Pope Pius II and the Vatican to the persecution and Holocaust of the Jews during the Second World War. In addition to references to the literature available in Czech and Slovak translations, it emphasizes the latest international research results after the opening of the Vatican archives in spring 2020. The focus of these revisions is primarily on the reconstruction of events during 1942, when more and more information about the genocide of the Jews on the Eastern Front and in the occupied Polish territories reached the Vatican. Recent archival discoveries show that the editors of the official edition of the historical documents have been selective and have not included important sources that show the contradictory reactions of some papal officials. The dispute between defenders and critics of Pius XII over whether his “silence” was due to diplomatic efforts to save the Jews or to inhibitions stemming from power calculations or even traditional prejudices must therefore be considered in a new context. Recent research has also clarified the ethical dimension of the Pope’s dilemma to confine himself to diplomatic efforts or to come out in open protest, thus rehabilitating to some extent the literary impetus of these now more than half-century-long controversies, which was Rolf Hochhuth’s play The Deputy (1963).
Author: SZABÓ, Miloslav
DOI: 10.17846/SHN.2023.27.2.598-609
Publication order reference: Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, Filozofická fakulta, Katedra germanistiky, nederlandistiky a škandinavistiky, Gondova 2, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovak Republic, mail: miloslav.szabo@uniba.sk
Source: Studia Historica Nitriensia, year: 2023, vol.: 27, number: 2, pages: 598-609
Key words: Second World War; Holocaust; Pius XII; protests; Vatican;
Language: SLOVAK