Jim Fulner reviewed The Myth of Hitler's Pope by David G. Dalin
3 stars
I don't feel this book was a good as it could have been. It suffers from the same as films like "Farenhype 9/11" in that they are released far too quickly, primarily to challenge some incorrect "truthes" presented by a more popular work. Much of "The Myth of Hitlers' Pope" is almost unusable without having read John Cornwell's "Hitler's Pope"returnreturnThat being said what is there appears to be well documented and properly calls out the errors in the more popular work. Our author David Dalin is a Conservative Rabbi. And I do mean Conservative with a Capital C. He probably thinks folks who vote Democrat can't be true believers, with chapters like "The Liberal Medias Lies about the Pope past and present" BUt I digress. returnreturnDalin interviews suriveros of the holocaust who were able to make it through the work of the Church. Some became Catholic after the war (technically …
I don't feel this book was a good as it could have been. It suffers from the same as films like "Farenhype 9/11" in that they are released far too quickly, primarily to challenge some incorrect "truthes" presented by a more popular work. Much of "The Myth of Hitlers' Pope" is almost unusable without having read John Cornwell's "Hitler's Pope"returnreturnThat being said what is there appears to be well documented and properly calls out the errors in the more popular work. Our author David Dalin is a Conservative Rabbi. And I do mean Conservative with a Capital C. He probably thinks folks who vote Democrat can't be true believers, with chapters like "The Liberal Medias Lies about the Pope past and present" BUt I digress. returnreturnDalin interviews suriveros of the holocaust who were able to make it through the work of the Church. Some became Catholic after the war (technically during as they were baptized so to prove they weren't Jewish) and some returned to the faith of their fathers when it was safe to do so. He examines the writings of Pope Pius XII in light of the situation at the time. I agree with his conclusion that as a "world leader" in the middle of fascist Europe, he did absolutely everything he could, even when toward the end of the War Hitler wanted him killed. Dalin seems to claim that Cornwell's biggest argument for saying Pius was a Nazi collaborator is because he didn't do enough. If this is true it is a very bad argument. What were American liberals doing during the rise of Hitler? Some where pinning for war, some were fighting against war and claiming Americans should stay out of Europeans' business, and some just wanted to punch Nazi's with no real end game in sight. Really not that different than now. The best it has is reminded me that The Holy Father is still a human, and still primarily has to work within the context of the time he is alive. returnreturnIf you are interested probably worth reading, though by now their may be better edited works available.