David Kertzer, “The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler”
Presented in partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis, the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, and the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum
Washington University–Graham Chapel
1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Kertzer presents a groundbreaking book about Pope Pius XII and his actions during World War II, including how he responded to the Holocaust. Based on thousands of never-before-seen documents from the Vatican archives, “The Pope at War” paints a new, dramatic portrait of what the pope did and did not do as war enveloped the continent, revealing how the pope came to set aside moral leadership in order to preserve his church’s power. Kertzer shows why no full understanding of the course of World War II is complete without knowledge of the dramatic, behind-the-scenes role played by the pope.