A subtle blow was struck at Hitlerism when in the midst of the negotiations between Germany’s Vice-Chancellor, Franz von Papen, and Cardinal Pacelli over the question of a concordat, the Osservatore Romano, semi-official Vatican organ, appeared with an article attacking the anti-Semitic policy of the Nazis.
The editorial condemned the Nazis’ racial principles as “materialistic and doctrinaire, verging on idolatry.” Racial nationalism, such as Hitler and his followers profess, declared the paper, went against the grain of history, science, politics and religion.
“In the twentieth century we again have to choose between racial hatred and Christian love and between barbarism and culture,” the article concluded.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
