Jews Come Out to Defend Pope Benedict Against Nazi Claims
A Life Described by Three Phases
The claims that Ratzinger was a Nazi have made the rounds in the media with people already seeking to silence this Pope as a racist. Defense is coming from an unlikely corner, the Jewish contigent.
Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles agreed that Ratzinger’s father was an anti-Nazi and said Ratzinger’s membership in the Hitler Youth should not be taken as an indication of Nazi sympathies because membership was mandatory. Heir said his group likes Ratzinger and expects him to continue John Paul II’s outreach to Jews.
Other Jewish groups overseas and in Israel voice the same thing. He was in the Hitler Youth because he had to be and he was drafted into the army, and army he obviously didn’t want to serve as he deserted and sat out the rest of the war in an American POW camp. A pontiff who has seen first hand how the US treats it’s POW’s and apparently has no complaints.
