Oct. 30




VATICAN CITY:

Vatican stalling on secret files which could prove wartime Pope ignored
Holocaust


The Vatican appears to be dragging its feet over releasing secret files
which could solve once and for all the question of whether a wartime Pope
turned a blind eye to the Holocaust.

Documenting the archives will take at least another six or seven years, a
Vatican spokesman said in response to a request from a senior Jewish
leader.

Jewish groups and critics of Pope Pius XII, who was pontiff for the
duration of the Second World War, have long called for the Vatican
archives to be made available so that Pius's record on speaking out
against Hitler and the Nazis can be examined.

In an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, Rabbi David Rosen of the
International Jewish Committee on Inter-religious Consultations repeated
the request.

"We reiterate our respectful call for full and transparent access of
scholars to all archival material from that period, so that assessments
regarding actions and policies during this tragic period may have the
credibility they deserve," he said.

But he was told that the secret archives for 1939-1945 contain around 16
million documents and the Vatican lacks the specialised staff to
categorise them quickly.

Although demands that the archives be made available were "understandable
and justifiable", it would be unrealistic to expect the archives to be
opened earlier than 2014.

"The prefect for the secret archive, Monsignor Sergio Pagano, recently
stated that with the present workforce the estimated time frame is at
least 6-7 years," said a Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi.

"Of course, once the filing work is completed, since the secret archive is
the archive of the Pope, the final decision on opening the archives will
be up to the Holy Father".

The rabbi and his committee also met with Monsignor Pagano. "He explained
to us in a very detailed way the difficulties (involved)... there's a lot
of work to be done, it's a technical issue," Rabbi Rosen said.

The rabbi said the pontiff was giving "serious consideration" to delaying
the planned beatification of Pius until the archives could be thrown open
to scholars. Beatification is the last formal step before sainthood.

Marking the 50th anniversary of Pius' death recently, Pope Benedict
described him as a great pope who worked "secretly and silently" during
World War Two to "avoid the worst and save the greatest number of Jews
possible".

Earlier this month, the priest in charge of the case for Pius' sainthood,
Father Peter Gumpel, said Pope Benedict was hesitating over approving the
first step towards making his predecessor a saint out of concern for
maintaining "good relations" with Jews.

(source: The Telegraph)








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Nov. 3




GERMANY:

NAZI MASSACRE----Berlin Takes Rome to Court


After a high court in Italy ruled that Germany is liable for damages
stemming from a 1944 massacre in the village of Civitella perpetrated by
Nazi soldiers, Berlin has asked the International Criminal Court to look
into the case.

Berlin worries the verdict could set off an avalanche of World War
II-related court cases against the German government. On Oct. 22, Italy's
highest appellate court, the Cassation, ruled that Germany must pay 1
million in compensation to the descendents of those killed by Nazi
soldiers in the Italian town of Civitella in 1944.

Now, Germany has taken the case to the International Criminal Court in The
Hague in the hopes that it will rule that the payments don't have to be
made. A spokesman for the foreign ministry in Berlin on Saturday confirmed
a report in this week's SPIEGEL, saying that the ICC "has been asked to
clarify this question."

The October verdict in Rome also sentenced a German officer named Max
Josef Milde in abstentia to life in prison. The court found that the
officer was involved in the June 29, 1944 massacre which saw over 200
villagers, including the village priest, executed in revenge for the
killing of three German soldiers by partisans 10 days earlier. Germany and
Italy signed an agreement in 1961, which resulted in a blanket payment of
40 million deutsche marks.

Of particular concern to Berlin, however, is the finding that Germany can
also be held liable for the massacre. Such a precedent could trigger an
expensive wave of individual lawsuits against Germany.

"Germany is right to be concerned that this verdict could clear the way
for an unending series of other lawsuits," Antonio Cassese, the former
president of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia,
told the Sddeutsche Zeitung.

Germany's position is that the verdict transgresses rules regarding state
immunity, which govern the degree to which a country can be sued in the
courts of another country. Germany has successfully used the approach in
the past in numerous cases regarding Nazi crimes.

As a result of the October ruling, there is a real possibility that German
properties in Italy could be seized. According to information received by
SPIEGEL, there are 51 cases pending in Italy that are similar to the
Civitella case. In addition, there are tens of thousands of victims of
Nazi crimes in Italy who could now be moved to file suit. Families of the
600,000 Italian slave laborers brought into the Third Reich during World
War II could likewise begin filing lawsuits on the strength of the
precedent.

Still, even within Italy there are those who are uncomfortable with the
October verdict. "If courts can decide from case to case whether a country
can be granted immunity, the principle of state immunity becomes
capricious," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told the Sddeutsche
Zeitung recently.

Indeed, the Italian precedent could pave a legal path for a global wave of
lawsuits, extending from victims of colonialism in Africa to the families
of those who died in the US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is now
up to the ICC.

(source: Spiegel)


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Berlin center marks those who saved Jews

The "Silent Heroes" now have a voice.

A new memorial center in Berlin pays tribute to the thousands of German
gentiles who risked everything to save Jews from persecution by the Nazis
and documents the stories of those who sometimes spent years in hiding.

The "Silent Heroes" memorial center opened to the public last week amid a
new focus in recent years on the legacy of the "good German" --
individuals who resisted Hitler, were labeled as traitors by the Nazis and
were often shunned after the war.

"Their accomplishments were totally forgotten, and this is an initiative
to bring them back into our memory," said Johannes Tuchel, director of the
German Resistance Memorial Center Foundation, which is behind the new
memorial.

About 5,000 Jews were able to survive the war in hiding in Germany. It is
not clear how many people were involved in helping them, Tuchel said.
Research suggests that for each person in hiding, about 10 people aided
him or her.

Peter Michalski, whose family went into hiding in 1944, said it was a long
overdue tribute to the Germans who helped people like him escape death.

"Where would you be now if these people hadn't existed?" he asked
contemplatively while looking at an exhibit focusing on his family's
plight. "The answer is simple: We wouldn't be."

The three-room exhibition has many multimedia displays in English and
German -- audio accounts, touch-screen computers focusing on 18 aspects of
survival, and computers with more details on those in hiding and their
rescuers. There are also personal photos, diaries and letters.

The best-known subject is Oskar Schindler, whose story was told by Steven
Spielberg's Oscar-winning film "Schindler's List," which showed his
efforts to shield 1,000 Jews from Nazi camps by hiring them to work in his
factories.

Some of the lesser-known stories are just as moving.

Michalski looked slowly at the photos on display, picking out his parents
-- Lilli and Herbert Michalski -- as well as himself and his brother
Franz.

Lilli Michalski was born Jewish but converted to her husband's
Catholicism. Because of that, she was able to initially escape deportation
to a death camp even though the Nazis began rounding up many of her
relatives in 1941.

But by 1944, the risks had become too great and the family went into
hiding. Several Germans aided them, most prominently a colleague of
Herbert's named Gerda Mez, who eventually helped them leave.

Michalski said it was important that people like Mez are recognized, so
others can see their sacrifices. "These people are no longer alive but
their relatives still are."

Israel's Yad Vashem memorial recognizes more than 22,000 gentiles across
Europe who helped Jews escape the Holocaust as "Righteous among the
Nations." Among them more than 450 Germans.

It is also not known how many people were caught sheltering Jews, which
could have meant execution or deportation to a concentration camp.

(source: Los Angeles Times)