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Palgrave Macmillan

The Holy See and Hitler's Germany

  • Book
  • © 2007

Overview

Authors:
  1. G. Besier
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Keywords

  • Adolf Hitler
  • Austria
  • civil war
  • dictatorship
  • empire
  • Europe
  • fascism
  • Germany
  • National Socialism
  • peace
  • Poland
  • Pope
  • revolution
  • Spain
  • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

About this book

This study takes into account the recently declassified documents in the Vatican Archives dealing with the Catholic Church's policy regarding Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, strongly defined by Nuncio in Germany and, then, Cardinal State Secretary Eugenio Pacelli (later to become Pope Pius XII).

Reviews

'The wartime years of the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958) have triggered what are known as 'the Pius Wars', involving whether or not the Pope was unduly silent during the Holocaust. Much of this intense debate concerns whether Eugenio Pacelli, who became Pius XII, was antisemitic or pro-German leading some to dub him 'Hitler's Pope'. In this remarkable and well-written book, the leading German ecclesiastical historian Gerhard Besier uses new sources to explore Pacelli's career before he became Pope, including his years as Nuncio to both Bavaria and then Germany, and then his years as Vatican Secretary of State. The approach is engaging, Besier's conclusions arresting, and the book is essential reading to any one interested in German or Vatican diplomacy during the 1920s and 1930s.' - Michael Burleigh, author of Earthly Powers: Politics and Religion in Europe from the French Revolution to the Great War

'A terrifying and deeply troubling book. Well-written and well-documented..it should be widely-read.' - Tribune

About the author

FRANCESCA PIOMBO has been a Researcher at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research in Totalitarianism at the Technical University, Dresden, Germany since 2003.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Holy See and Hitler's Germany

  • Authors: G. Besier

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2007

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4039-8831-7Published: 03 October 2007

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 300

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