Hitler, the War and the Pope (review)

Hitler, the War and the Pope. By Ronald J. Rychlak. (Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor. 2000. Pp. xiv, 468. $19.95 paperback.)

The literature on the pontificate of Pius XII has now reached dimensions that surpass what has been published on any other successor of St. Peter. Because he occupied the Holy See at one of the terrible moments in human history, World War II and the accompanying Holocaust of the Jews, attention is understandably given to his action in regard to these tragic happenings. A fashion was set by a German dramatist, Rolf Hochhuth, no expert historian: Pius XII was the silent Pope. Research, however, showed that this was a superficial, erroneous interpretation of the events. Hence the controversy that we have seen. Now from the extensive literature a work of superb scholarship and most mature judgment appears.

The author, Ronald J. Rychlak, comes from an important legal and academic background. But he will be judged on the intrinsic quality of his work. He adopts a special structure in the presentation of his material. After some preliminaries there are seventeen chapters dealing with the careers of Pius XII and Hitler and the beginning and course of the war, with special attention to the Holocaust. Not many authors give the early years of the Führer, with his days in prison; not many either recount the first phase in the life and official status of Eugenio Pacelli, his appointments before he became Secretary of State to Pius XI and his successor as Pope. But the later earth-shaking events are here given full attention.

In Chapter XVIII of the book the author poses twelve questions which may be asked about Pius XII and gives complete, satisfying answers. Then comes an epilogue, a chapter in which the author analyzes and offers valid criticism of the book which bore the title Hitler's Pope--which carried the record-breaking falsehood in a world where falsehood abounded--a reference to the Pope's "collusion" with Hitler's anti-Semitism! I shall presently show the idiocy of such a remark. Had I met the author on television I would have asked him whether he was preparing the companion volume, "Winston Churchill, Hitler's Prime Minister." Our author elegantly demolishes his bit of pathos.

There is then an afterword by a commentator, Robert P. George, briefly setting the book in a deservedly favorable context. Then comes treasure trove: 130 pages entitled "End Notes." These pages comprise a most abundant annotation to the main text. They reveal a phenomenal amount of reading. The author's clear, graceful style, which makes his main text a delight to read, does not desert him here, for the notes, which in number are slightly short of two thousand, are not mere references but explanation, at times quite detailed. It is easy to see future university students working on dissertations delving deeply into the vast accessible treasure.

For the author shows that he has omitted nothing. He uses works like my own book on the Pope, all the Jewish writings available to him at the time of writing, especially all the primary sources, the state papers, the Nuremberg transcript, the Vatican War Documents, any and every article that has relevance. There is no comparable, certainly no superior writing which manifests command of literature and telling discernment, in recent historical literature.

The book is a landmark. I should make it clear that every major event in the life of Pius XII is dealt with; every question raised about him is answered and answered satisfactorily to the total confusion of his critics.

Professor Rychlak will rejoice at the recent Jewish contribution to the literature on Pius XII, for, as he shows, this is a sticking point. The highly respected English (though Jewish) historian, Sir Martin Gilbert, in a second work dealing with the tragic period defends Pius XII; so did Professor Richard Bratmein, a Jewish staff member of Washington University. So did Michael...