Israeli Holocaust memorial moderates critical tone describing Pope Pius XII

July 03, 2012: Yad Vashem, the Israeli memorial to Holocaust victims, has replaced the controversial caption underneath the photo of Pius XII, a text called "ambiguous" behavior of the Pope before the extermination of the Jews. On 1 July, the site of the museum announced that "recently, following the recommendations of the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem, the panel has been updated on the activities of the Vatican and Pope Pius XII during the war.
Archbishop Antonio Franco, the apostolic nuncio in Israel, welcomed the change as “a step forward, in the sense that it evolves from straight condemnation to the evaluation.”
The new caption points out that "the reaction of Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli, the murder of Jews during the Holocaust is the subject of dispute among scholars." The difference in perspective is substantial. The controversy over the role of the Pope during the Nazi persecution of Jews is still far from closed.

"I do not think that the new caption represents a softening of the judgment with respect to the previous' one that emerges today is "a judgment rather than moral, historical awareness that there is located within a still open debate," said historian Anna Foa.

Current State of Research "which took place at Yad Vashem in 2009 [of the proceedings of this conference is soon to be published], have clarified some issues, while leaving open many more. Only when you can have all the material you can get a clearer picture (...) The Yad Vashem is eagerly awaiting the day when the Vatican archives are opened to researchers, so that we can reach a clearer understanding of events. "

"The panel - it says on the site of Yad Vashem - indicated that the reaction of Pius XII was a controversial issue. Some visitors did not understand what the controversy. Now the panel explains in more detail." And so in the caption is now also cited the passage of the 1942 Christmas radio message in which Pope Pacelli refers to "hundreds of thousands of people, who through no fault of their own, sometimes only by reason of nationality or race, are destined to death or progressive extinction." The text points out that critics attribute to the Pope's "moral failing" the absence of an explicit condemnation of the Jews, but opens the question on both sides of the debate.

The new panel opens the way for further changes, in one way or another, proving that history is based on documents and interpretations, not on political bias or common sense. And the leaders of Yad Vashem are shown, with this bold gesture, to be fully aware. "