Too many “dilemmas”? On a Recent Book (and an earlier one) on the “Silences” of Pius XII
Journal title ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA
Author/s Sante Lesti
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/311
Language Italian Pages 14 P. 136-149 File size 143 KB
DOI 10.3280/IC2026-311006
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This article examines Nina Valbousquet’s recent book, “Les âmes tièdes. Le Vatican face à la Shoah” (Paris, La Découverte, 2024), which can be regarded as a key early outcome of the new wave of scholarship on the Vatican, the Second World War, and the Shoah, spurred by the opening of the “Pius XII Archives” in March 2020. In the first part, the article highlights the historiographical advances now made possible thanks to the newly accessible Vatican documents. In the second part, it delves into some of these fresh insights, focusing particularly on the mechanisms through which the prestige of Pius XII was constructed both during and the immediate aftermath of the war. Finally, in its conclusion, the article invites readers to reconsider the reasons that led Pius XII to remain silent in the face of a “mass murder” — that of European Jews — of which he had been fully aware since the spring-summer of 1942.
Keywords: Vatican, Second War World, Shoah, Pius XII, Papacy, Jews
Sante Lesti, Troppi “dilemmi”? A proposito di un libro recente (e uno meno) sui “silenzi” di Pio XII in "ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA" 311/2026, pp 136-149, DOI: 10.3280/IC2026-311006