The Myth of Hitler’s Pope

Here's a bit of an interview between Thomas Woods and Rabbi David G. Dalin on Dalin's new book:

Woods: Faced with the fact that many Roman Jews were in fact saved by Catholics during World War II, many critics of Pius XII fall back on the argument that those Jews were saved by individual priests, bishops, religious, and laity rather than in response to a papal directive. What do you make of this claim?

Dalin: As I discuss in much detail in my book, this claim is historically false: There is much firsthand evidence testifying to Pius’s explicit instructions to save Jews, including that of Monsignor John Patrick Carroll-Abbing. Carroll-Abbing was the founder of Boys Towns of Italy and a confidant of Pius XII. He also, on explicit instructions from the pope, fed and sheltered Jews during the Nazi occupation of Rome. In his two memoirs, A Chance to Live and But for the Grace of God, published in 1952 and 1965, respectively, he provides extensive details about Pius XII’s rescue efforts on behalf of the Jews — efforts with which he was directly involved.

Catholic Exchange