Again about a certain historical lie...

[fpb]

This is a passage from the introduction to Notes on the Diplomatic History of the
Jewish Question, by Lucien Wolf, written in 1919 for the use of the Versailles Peace Conference:

Besides helping to indicate the lines on which Jewish action should travel in this matter, the State Papers here quoted may also serve to remind the Plenipotentiaries themselves that the Jewish Question is far from being a subsidiary issue in the Reconstruction of Europe, that they have a great tradition of effort and achievement in regard to it, and that this tradition, apart from the high merits of the task itself, imposes upon them the solemn obligation of solving the Question completely and finally now that the opportunity of doing so presents itself free from all restraints of a selfish and calculating diplomacy. It is not only that the edifice of Religious Liberty in Europe has to be completed, but also that some six millions of human beings have to be freed from political and civil disabilities and social and economic restrictions which for calculated cruelty have no parallels outside the Dark Ages. The Peace Conference will have accomplished relatively little if a shred of this blackest of all European scandals is allowed to survive its deliberations.

[vi]This collection does not pretend to be complete. The aim has been only to illustrate adequately the main lines of the theme with a view to practical questions which may arise in connection with the Peace Conference. American documents have been only sparely quoted, for the reason that the American Jewish Historical Society has already published a very full collection of such documents. (Cyrus Adler: "Jews in the Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States.") The many generous interventions of the Vatican on behalf of persecuted Jews have also been omitted partly for a similar reason (see Stern: "Urkundliche Beiträge über die Stellung der Päpste zu den Juden") and partly because they have very little direct bearing on the diplomatic activities of the Great Powers during the period under discussion.


Guess what? There really does seem to be a tradition of "Hitler's Popes". I for one had never even heard that the Vatican had ever intervened in favour of Jews before and during the First World War (when the main butcher was Russia, not Germany). Guess there are things that are not mentioned in polite society.

Comments

[shezan.livejournal.com]

But this is absolutely riveting! Available on line? In a library somewhere?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Project Gutenberg. However, the thing to find is the authority quoted by Wolf, that is Stern: Urkundliche Beiträge über die Stellung der Päpste zu den Juden. My German is only moderate, but next time I'm in the British Library I'll certainly look it up.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

... and the thing can even be bought on BookFinder!

http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=9sztpRB0UC255T.MWfT.r.nmDxQ_0076831984_1:8:106&bq=author%3Dmoritz%2520stern%26title%3Durkundliche%2520beitrage%2520uber%2520die%2520stellung%2520der%2520papste%2520zu%2520den%2520juden%2520mit%2520benutzung%2520der%2520papstlichen%2520geheimarchivs%2520zu%2520rom&ps=bp


http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=9sztpRB0UC255T.MWfT.r.nmDxQ_0076831984_1:8:107&bq=author%3Dmoritz%2520stern%26title%3Durkundliche%2520beitrage%2520uber%2520die%2520stellung%2520der%2520papste%2520zu%2520den%2520juden.%25202%2520vols.%2520kiel%25201893-1895.%2520reprinted%2520in%25201%2520vol

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Holy thundering Athena! Did you see the date on it? I thought that was concerned with WWI and preceding period, but this book was published in 1893! Dites-moi, mon amie, just how many decades' worth of lies have been shoved down our collective throats?

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Many more than we can even imagine, I bet.

... now, wouldn't that make a nice counter "Da Vinci Code" novel, hmmmm?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

You thought of it... you write it... I'll stand on the sidelines and clap my hands.

[johncwright.livejournal.com]

I will also applaud for the Anti-DaVinci novel.

I have heard from GK Chesterton about the Catholic Church intervening to preserve and protect Jews from local violence and arrogant kings, but I cannot quote any sources.

Roman Jews

[joetexx.livejournal.com]

Will Durant was quite emphatic on the degree to which the Popes protected the Jewish comminities, particaularly that in Rome, which had the oldest continuimg Jewish presence in the West for a very good reason. I believe out host, Mr Barbierei, had touched on the subject more than once.

"Ghetto" comes from the borgetto district in old Rome which was to Jews to live in under their own laws, IIRC.

Re: Roman Jews

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Um, in Italy it is held that it comes from the "dump" (Ghetto, from gettare - to dump, to throw away) to which the Jews were restricted in Venice. Anyway, I have posted about the common history of Popes and Jews in Rome: http://community.livejournal.com/fpb_de_fide/1203.html

The Sun said it Virginia. It must be true.

[joetexx.livejournal.com]

Alas it appears that the original Borget confinement was punitive. It is possible though that Paul IV (1555-1559) meant the measure fore their own protection at least partly.


http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/jitaly-rome-ghetto.htm

[filialucis]

It turns out to be available on Google Books, though you may need to go through a US proxy server to get at it: http://tinyurl.com/ygfssar

And not to worry about your German; the bulk of the text would appear to be in Latin. ("Urkundliche Beiträge" needs to be taken literally; the book seems to be a collection of transcriptions of original Papal documents dealing with Jewish issues.)

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I don't actually need to buy it, being a member of the British Library.

Have you ever read this article of mine? http://community.livejournal.com/fpb_de_fide/1203.html

[filialucis]

The Google Books copy is downloadable for free.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

That's good. Actually, that's terrific. Thank you. My big problem is space - my flat is overflowing with books, and while I can still manage to put a few extra shelves, it certainly is time to make sure that as many new acquisitions as possible are electronic and take no room.

To be precise....

[fpb.livejournal.com]

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31385/31385-h/31385-h.htm

Re: To be precise....

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Bloody hell. The Internet is a wondrous, wondrous thing.

*turns into eBook going into the iPhone in five and a half clicks*

MASSIVELY interested in "Urkundliche Beitraege ueber die Stellung der Paepste zu den Juden" if you do track it down.

[cheyinka]

That was part of what made The Myth of Hitler's Pope (by David Dalin) such an interesting read for me; he not only debunked the lie that Pius XII did nothing (or did less than he should have) for the Jews, he pointed out that Pius XII wasn't even the first Pope to do something like that, which I hadn't known - despite having gone to Catholic school and considering myself to know at least a reasonable amount about the history of the Catholic Church.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I knew of that in general terms, but the precise period this concerns is the nineteenth century, in which the Papacy was fighting for its life and generally aligned with reactionary forces. This is hugely important.

[cheyinka]

And, see, I didn't even know it in general terms, much less know enough to wonder whether it was also the case in the nineteenth century :/

[fpb.livejournal.com]

You might like to read this, if you haven't already: http://community.livejournal.com/fpb_de_fide/1203.html

[cheyinka]

I hadn't read that, no.

I had an entire year of Church history in high school. How did nothing of this ever get mentioned to me (or at least get mentioned in a way that I would remember)?

It's the same feeling I had when reading The Myth of Hitler's Pope - that I should have known this all along.