April 19, 2005
By Mark Lavie, Associated Press
USA Today
JERUSALEM — Some Jews in Israel professed concern over the choice of Joseph Ratzinger as pope because of his German origins and links to the Nazis of World War II — especially by comparison to his predecessor — but others say the new pontiff's record over the last six decades is more important than his youthful affiliations.
To some extent, the concerns arise from an automatic Jewish revulsion for anything linked to the Nazis, who killed 6 million Jews and tried to wipe out all European Jews before Germany was defeated in 1945.
In marking the naming of the new pope, Israel's government wrapped a positive statement around a barb about Ratzinger's membership in the "Hitler Youth." He said he had no choice in the matter.
"Israel is hopeful that under this new papacy, we will continue to move forward in Vatican-Israel relations and we are sure that considering the background of this new pope, he, like his predecessor, will be a strong voice against anti-Semitism in all its forms," said a statement by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. (Related video: Reaction in the Mideast)
The contrast with the late Pope John Paul II is stark. John Paul was hailed as making great strides in repairing relations with the Jews, perhaps more so than any pope in history. He apologized for Catholic wrongdoing, promoted interfaith dialogue, established Vatican-Israel diplomatic relations and helped Jews during the Nazi era.
While some Israeli experts on the Roman Catholic church pointed to a less-than-perfect record on relations with the Jews, their concerns were swept away in a flood of adulation after John Paul's death.
Exchanging a Polish pope with a recognized record of relatively warm feelings for the Jewish people with a German cardinal of severe countenance and with a Nazi tie — albeit a forced affiliation — was bound to rankle some Jews.
Ratzinger said in a 1997 interview that his membership in the Hitler Youth was compulsory. And after he was drafted into a German anti-aircraft unit, he never fired a shot, he pope said. Even Efraim Zuroff, a Nazi hunter and director of the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Membership in the Hitler Youth doesn't disqualify someone from being pope," Zuroff said. "If he had committed war crimes, the situation would be completely different. The issue is his record afterward, and he was never involved in any war crimes as far as we know."
Zuroff said he is an expert on Nazis, not on Jewish-Catholic affairs, but he added, "His (Ratzinger's) record is reasonable, he's involved in dialogue."
Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee, whose field of expertise is interfaith relations, dismissed the concerns. "There are historical reasons for Jewish paranoia," Rosen said, but "the mark of the man is the adult Ratzinger, not the child. As an adult he has shown a deep understanding of our concerns."
Under the headline, "Ratzinger a Nazi? Don't Believe It," the English-language Jerusalem Post took issue with criticism of the new pope's past.
The daily said Ratzinger was instrumental in forging Israel-Vatican ties and prepared the 2000 church document, "Memory and Reconciliation," which listed Catholic wrongdoing toward the Jewish people.
"If he were truly a Nazi sympathizer, then it would undoubtedly become evident during the past 60 years," the Postwrote. "Yet throughout his service in the church, Ratzinger has distinguished himself in the field of Jewish-Catholic relations."
But Rabbi Avraham Ravitz, a veteran representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel's parliament, reflected the apprehensive feelings of some Jews.
"We are very concerned," he said. "I don't know to what extent his participation in the Hitler Youth left an imprint of animosity toward the Jewish people."
Ravitz said that the pope, as a moral leader, has a critical role in reducing anti-Semitism or exacerbating it. "One word from the pope — or silence — can be critical," he said.
Even Ravitz appeared open to persuasion. "This pope will have to take up where the former one left off," he said, referring to Catholic-Jewish rapprochement. "It will not be enough for him to leave everything where it is."
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