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New Book Charges Pope Pius Xii with Failing to Defy Nazis on Jews

June 16, 1964
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The charge that Pope Pius XII remained silent in the face of the Nazi annihilation of 6,000,000 Jews in order to protect the special interests of the Catholic Church is being voiced in a book published here today, the author of which is a Professor of Government at the University of Massachusetts who spent three years in research on the subject.

The book, “The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany, “by Guenter Lewy, appears to support the similar thesis expressed in the stage play, “The Deputy, ” by Rolf Hochhuth, While Mr. Lewy praises the Catholic priests in Germany and other countries who defied Nazi terrorism to shelter Jews, he sharply criticizes Pope Pius for failing to threaten Hitler and other Catholic Nazi leaders with “an interdict or excommunication.”

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