Historian Fr Dermot Fenlon of the Birmingham Oratory looks at the facts and sets the record straight. Hitler, like a trapped beast, would react to any menace that he felt directed at him, with cruel violence.
Actions speak louder than words.
Papal policy in Nazi Europe was directed with an eye to local conditions. It was co- ordinated with local hierarchies. Nazi policy towards the Jews varied from country to country. Thus, although anti-Jewish measures were met in France by public protest from Archbishop Saliege of Toulouse, together with Archbishop Gerlier of Lyons and Bishop Thias of Mantauban, their protest was backed by a highly effective rescue and shelter campaign. 200,000 lives were saved.