Is the Black Legend at last dissolving?

Many Catholics, clerical and lay, have worked tirelessly for years to defeat the Black Legend. The Black Legend is the story that Pope Pius XII, regarded as a living saint in the 1950s, did little or nothing to save the Jews from Nazi murder. The legend grew from The Deputy a play by a German author in 1963 and thereafter propagated enthusiastically through the decades in all manner of books, newspaper and magazine articles and television programs. One of the most reprehensible books that developed the Pius XII anti-Semite  and Nazi complicity theme was Hitler's Pope, by a self-proclaimed Catholic, John Cornwell.

Despite the work done to clear Pius XII's name, it seemed to many of us that little headway was being made to defeat what we knew to be the greatest calumny of the twentieth century. We knew that not only was Pius XII innocent of the charges, but that he was the very opposite both in deed and belief. Anti-Semitism and Nazism were abhorrent to him, and he did all that was in his power to save as many Jews from Hitler's extermination plans as he could.

But there has been a change, a change so great that it now looks like the Black Legend is dissolving. If it is, it is happening in no small part due to the efforts of an American Jew, Gary Krupp, of the Path the Way Foundation (http://www.ptwf.org/index.htm).

In a number of interviews and written pieces, Gary Krupp says that he 'grew up hating Pius XII, believing him to be an anti-Semite and a Nazi collaborator.' Through a 'providential' set of circumstances, related in an article in Galus Australis (Jewish Knight defends Pope XII), he became exposed to documents and oral histories that told a very different story. He said, 'my eyes were opened to a reality that was literally shocking. My emotions went from shock to anger. We discovered that we have been deceived by those whom we trusted for historical accuracy – that is, the scholars and historians.'

It was the beginning of a tenacious and feverish search for supporting evidence and documentation. In the four years since, he has uncovered literally thousands of documents demonstrating the calumny of the Black Legend, for which there is increasing evidence that the Soviet KGB was its originator.

I want to sincerely thank and pay tribute to Gary Krupp and the Pave the Way Foundation for the work they have done and are doing in undoing a terrible injustice. Immediately below are links to an interview with Gary Krupp and an eye-opening power point display which I strongly urge the reader to follow.

Gary Krupp interview on EWTN on the research of Pope Pius XII

Is Pope Pius XII a Righteous Gentile or Hitler's Pope?  Watch this  56 minute narrated Power Point  then you decide

 

FROM ZENIT NEWSAGENCY

Students at Jewish College See Pius XII's WWII Efforts

Ready to "Set the Record Straight"

NEW YORK, DEC 11, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A group of New York university students were the first to see a compilation of new evidence on Pope Pius XII's efforts to save Jews during the Holocaust.

The response of one rabbinic student, Noah Greenfield, was to be "inspired to help in any way I can to set the record straight."

Greenfield was giving his impression after seeing a presentation from the New York-based Pave the Way Foundation, a group that aims to promote interreligious dialogue.

The founder, Gary Krupp, has brought to light some 7,000 pages of documentation showing how Pius XII worked to save Jews during World War II. The foundation is working on a nomination of the Pope for the Yad Vashem title of "Righteous Among the Nations."

The presentation of this evidence was made Tuesday at Yeshiva University to a group of about 70 students. This was the first public presentation for many of the documents.

Fanatic

Greenfield said that "Gary Krupp's meticulous documentation convinced me that not only was Pope Pius XII innocent of all charges against him, but that he was the shining exemplar of humanity, faith and courage during the Holocaust."

The research shows how there was worldwide affection and appreciation shown Pius XII until a fictitious 1963 play, called "The Deputy."

The students expressed their amazement at seeing how a single play was able to overshadow proof of the Pope's efforts.

Krupp, himself a Jew, said his research has shown him that "the only phrase that fits the actions of Pope Pius XII in his personal efforts to save the Jewish people from the Nazi onslaught is 'borderline fanatical.'"

He explained: "[The Pope] acted to save as many Jews as he could, even to use trickery to send Jews to countries that said no Jews [could] be admitted. Pacelli ordered false baptismal papers to be issued to the refugees and called them 'Non Aryan Catholic-Jews,' and then many were allowed to emigrate to countries like Brazil, the U.S. and Canada.

"Had these people been really baptized then they would have simply been referred to as Catholics. Many critics have misinterpreted this deception and stated that Pius XII only worked hard to save converted Jews."

Krupp further stated that one characteristic of the Holy Father's work merits special acclaim: "[H]is life saving efforts were done anonymously, which in Jewish tradition is the highest form of charity. He did this when literally no other religious leaders or political leaders of the era did anything by comparison."

FURTHER LINKS

Jewish Knight defends Pope
http://galusaustralis.com/2010/05/3008/jewish-knight-defends-pius-xii/

How a strategy of silence saved thousands of Jews
http://www.zenit.org/article-29380?l=english

Book recounts Vatican aid for Pius XII's friend
http://www.zenit.org/article-27118?l=english