The myth of Hitler's Pope / David G.Dalin. Publisher Washington, DC : Regnery Pub., c2005
The above is a critique of Goldhagen, as well as other histories like this. Hitler's pope : The secret history of Pius XII / John Cornwell.Publisher New York : Viking, 1999.
You'd have to be a Catholic like my Italian Grandmother who went to church every day after she retired to defend the Vatican's record there.
Or these folks. (Though the bit about the grand Mufti is true. See among zillions of sources on him, "From Zeesen to Beirut: National Socialism and Islamic anti-semitism, " by Matthias Kuntzel. Telos 129 (Fall-Winter 2004): p55(20) I posted that here,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DemocraticLeft/message/22711 .And, btw, as well for contemporary Catholic neo and paleo-con apologetics like Novak below and Richard John Neuhaus [both formerly on the radical left during the 60's] editor of First Things, http://www.firstthings.com/ , the new polemic, a book, by an ex-editor of First Things on Catholic theo-cons and the Bush admin. is very good. http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=68358
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20060403&s=linker040306 , "THE CHRISTIANIZING OF AMERICA."
(Same writer on Leo Strauss, btw, http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20060731&s=linker073106 )
Rabbi refutes the "Big Lie" that Pope Pius XII was complicit in the Holocaust And reveals the liberal political agenda behind the slander The Myth of Hitler's Pope by David C. Dalin
Books like John Cornwell's Hitler's Pope and Garry Wills's Papal Sin (and others) have become New York Times bestsellers by arguing that Pope Pius XII was complicit in the Holocaust by failing to do enough to save the Jews from Nazi extermination. But in The Myth of Hitler's Pope, Othodox Jewish Rabbi David Dalin explodes this newly resurrected, widely accepted, yet utterly bankrupt smearing of a pope who was, in fact, to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, "a righteous gentile."
With devastating scholarship and unblinking honesty, Rabbi Dalin condemns the myth-makers for not only rewriting history, but for denying the testimony of Holocaust survivors -- and hijacking the Holocaust for unseemly political ends.
Rabbi David Dalin reveals:
* How the myth of "Hitler's Pope" began -- as Communist propaganda
* How liberal or apostate Catholics who are actively promoting the myth are exploiting a Jewish tragedy to undermine Church credibility on abortion and other issues
* The little-known fact of "Hitler's Mufti": How the Muslim Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who spent the war years as Hitler's guest in Berlin, advised and assisted the Nazis in carrying out Hitler's Final Solution
* The true history of Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust: how the Catholic Church did more than any other religious or secular institution to save Jewish lives
* Why the Nazis considered Pope Pius XII their mortal enemy - and at one point actually plotted to kidnap him
* Why Jewish survivors of the Holocaust -- and the founders of postwar Israel -- praised the pope for his help
* How the myth of "Hitler's Pope" has become a major factor in America's culture wars, even coloring reactions to Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ
Full of shocking and irrefutable detail, The Myth of Hitler's Pope is sure to generate controversy, and more important, to set the record straight. If you want the truth about Pope Pius XII, about the Catholic Church, the Jews, and the Holocaust -- and about how the myth of Hitler's pope plays into the culture wars of our own time -- you must begin here.
"STUNNING" . . . "COURAGEOUS" . . . "FASCINATING"
"A courageous, impassioned, and desperately needed book that restores essential balance to the ongoing discussion of one of the most reviled figures in recent religious history." -- MICHAEL MEDVED, nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and bestselling author
"This is a stunning book. I wish I had known more of this material years ago." -- MICHAEL NOVAK, George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
"Rabbi David Dalin's powerfully written defense of Pope Pius XII taught me much that I did not know, and deserves close reading. People of all faiths need to ponder the implications of Dalin's devastating conclusion: that while the Catholic pontiff was saving Jewish lives, the grand Arab mufti of Jerusalem was openly supporting Hitler's Final Solution." -- JONATHAN D. SARNA, Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University, and author of American Judaism: A History
"David Dalin's search for the truth about Pope Pius XII led him to the discovery that the tragedy of the Jewish people has been shamelessly exploited by foes of traditional religion. With righteous indignation, Dalin sets the record straight, documenting the dishonesty of Pius's leading attackers and demonstrating that the wartime pope was a friend and protector of the Jewish people in their time of greatest need." -- MARY ANN GLENDON, Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard University
"A fascinating study. Bound to be controversial. But more important than that, it will be genuinely thought-provoking." -- WILLIAM KRISTOL, editor, The Weekly Standard. -- Michael Pugliese