Students at Jewish College See Pius XII's WWII Efforts

George A. Sprecace M.D., J.D., F.A.C.P. and Allergy Associates of New London, P.C.
www.asthma-drsprecace.com

Students at Jewish College See Pius XII's WWII Efforts
Ready to Set the Record Straight

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ZENIT, The world seen from Rome
News Agency
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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."

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