Recently Unearthed Letter Indicates Pope Pius XII Had Comprehensive Knowledge of Nazi Atrocities from German Jesuit Source

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Recent findings point to Pope Pius XII’s possession of detailed accounts from a credible German Jesuit informant, revealing that as many as 6,000 Jews and Poles were subjected to gas chambers daily in Nazi-occupied Poland. These revelations undermine the Vatican’s prior stance that it was unable to validate diplomatic reports of Nazi crimes sufficiently to condemn them publicly.

The unearthed documents, disclosed this past weekend by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, are set to intensify the ongoing discussions surrounding the legacy of Pope Pius XII and his currently halted beatification process. Historians remain split on Pius XII’s role during the Holocaust, with proponents arguing that he employed discreet diplomatic channels to protect Jewish lives, while critics accuse him of remaining mute during the genocide.

The letter in question, dated December 14, 1942, was penned by German Jesuit priest Rev. Lothar Koenig and was directed to Pope Pius XII’s secretary, Rev. Robert Leiber, also a German Jesuit. This letter is part of an upcoming book that focuses on newly accessible files from Pius XII’s papacy, authored by Giovanni Coco, a researcher within the Vatican’s Apostolic Archives.

According to Coco, this letter is pivotal because it provides an exhaustive account of the Nazi extermination efforts targeting Jews, even specifying their incineration. The information originated from a well-informed church source in Germany who was involved in the Catholic resistance against Hitler and managed to transmit otherwise confidential information to the Vatican.

The letter reveals that Jews and Poles were being systematically killed in Rava Ruska, a town that was part of pre-war Poland and is now located in Ukraine. Victims were then transferred to the Belzec extermination camp. The Belzec memorial, established in 2004, records that 500,000 Jews perished in the camp, with thousands from Rava Ruska having been transported to Belzec earlier in 1942.

The timing of Rev. Koenig’s letter is significant as it was received by the Vatican shortly after the liquidation of the Rava Ruska ghetto and after the Pope had been informed by multiple diplomatic sources since August 1942 that up to 1 million Jews had already been killed in Poland.

Though there’s no definitive evidence that Pope Pius XII personally read the letter, Rev. Leiber, his principal aide, had a longstanding professional relationship with him, particularly concerning German affairs, implying a high likelihood that the Pope was made aware.

Noteworthy is that despite receiving this credible information, the Holy See refrained from publicly condemning Nazi actions, as revealed by Monsignor Domenico Tardini in discussions with the British envoy to the Vatican in December of the same year. Tardini indicated that the Vatican could not confirm the atrocities and therefore could not speak out.

The value of this newfound document lies in its confirmation that Pope Pius XII had received precise and comprehensive intelligence about the Holocaust from the German Catholic Church, as stated by Giovanni Coco.

However, Coco also notes that Rev. Koenig advised against public disclosure of the information he had provided, citing concerns for his life and the lives of those who had sourced the intelligence. Supporters of Pope Pius XII have long contended that he remained silent due to the risks of Nazi reprisals.

A forthcoming academic conference at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, endorsed by various organizations including the Vatican and Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust research institute, will delve deeper into these newly discovered documents and their impact on Pope Pius XII’s legacy.

This recently discovered letter was initially located in the Vatican’s secretariat of state archives, and was only transferred to the main Apostolic Archives in 2019, due to the disorganized state of the secretariat’s documents.

Reported by Vanessa Gera, contributing from Warsaw, Poland.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Pope Pius XII Nazi Atrocities Information

More about Pope Pius XII Nazi Atrocities Information

• Corriere della Sera’s Exclusive Report on the Newly Discovered Documents
• The Vatican Apostolic Archives
• Belzec Memorial Official Website
• The Pope at War by David Kertzer
• Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University Conference Details
• Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Research Institute
• U.S. Holocaust Memorial
• Pius XII and the Jews by Johan Ickx