Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust (Religious Studies: Bloomsbury Academic Collections) - Hardcover

Carol Rittner And John K. Roth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1474281575 ISBN 13: 9781474281577

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016

Synopsis

This collaborative effort by a number of the world's leading experts on the Holocaust examines the question: how should Vatican policies during World War II be understood? Specifically, could Pope Pius XII have curbed the Holocaust by vigorously condemning the Nazi killing of Jews? Was Pius XII really 'Hitler's Pope', as John Cornwell suggested? Or has he unfairly become a scapegoat when he is really deserving of canonization as a saint? In Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust, scholars including Michael Marrus, Michael Phayer, Richard L. Rubenstein and Susan Zuccotti wrestle with these questions. The book has four main themes: (1) Pope Pius XII must be understood in his particular historical context. (2) Pope Pius XII put the well-being of the Roman Catholic Church, as he understood it, first and foremost. (3) In retrospect, Pope Pius XII's priorities, understandable though they are, not only make him a problematic Christian leader but also raise important questions about post-Holocaust Christian identity. (4) Jewish and Christian memories of the Holocaust will remain different, but reconciliation can continue to grow. On all sides, relations between Christians and Jews can be improved by an honest engagement with history and by continuing reflection on what post-Holocaust Christian and Jewish identities ought and ought not to mean.

About this title

About the Authors

Carol Rittner is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Raticoff Grossman Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Richard Stockton University of New Jersey, USA.

John K. Roth is the Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and the Founding Director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights at Claremont McKenna College, where he taught from 1966 through 2006. His numerous books include Genocide and Human Rights: A Philosophical Guide (Palgrave Macmillan), Ethics During and After the Holocaust: In the Shadow of Birkenau (Palgrave Macmillan), and The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies (Oxford University Press). In 1988, Roth was named U.S. National Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1474281575
• ISBN 13: 9781474281577
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 321
• Editor: Carol Rittner And John K. Roth