Nazi Persecution of Jews Described As Greater Shock to Mankind Than Hiroshima

The Roman Catholic Primate of England declared here tonight that the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany, not the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was the “greatest shock suffered by mankind in modern times.” John Cardinal Heenan, Archbishop of Westminster, said it would be educationally valuable to screen films of Bergen-Belsen for young people once a year so that they could see “what was done in the name of national purity and eugenics by 20th century men and women.” Cardinal Heenan made his remarks in the course of a lecture to students of the London School of Economics. He said the great shock was the realization that national leaders in the 20th century could plan the systematic destruction of a whole race,” which put an end to belief in the myth of human progress.” He said that although the trials of the criminals responsible for the torture and murder continue to this day, “the full horror is scarcely known to citizens under 40 years of age.”