New Records: Pope John XXIII helped Jews during WWII
TEL AVIV, Israel -- The Rev. Angelo Roncalli, who later became Pope John XXIII, helped save thousands of Jews from the Holocaust, newly discovered records show in Israel.
The documents, which include memoirs and letters, describe multiple meetings at the Vatican compound in Istanbul between Roncalli, who at the time was a diplomat for the Vatican, and Chaim Barlas, a Jewish man sent to Istanbul on behalf of the Jewish Agency Rescue Committee, an organization dedicated to saving Jews from the Nazis, The Washington Times reported Tuesday.
Tel Aviv University Professor Dina Porat, who examined the documents, said the two men composed letters to Pope Pius XII, who has frequently been accused of not doing enough to prevent the Holocaust, and obtained false papers to help Hungarian Jews escape Nazi-occupied areas.
Read entire article at UPI
The documents, which include memoirs and letters, describe multiple meetings at the Vatican compound in Istanbul between Roncalli, who at the time was a diplomat for the Vatican, and Chaim Barlas, a Jewish man sent to Istanbul on behalf of the Jewish Agency Rescue Committee, an organization dedicated to saving Jews from the Nazis, The Washington Times reported Tuesday.
Tel Aviv University Professor Dina Porat, who examined the documents, said the two men composed letters to Pope Pius XII, who has frequently been accused of not doing enough to prevent the Holocaust, and obtained false papers to help Hungarian Jews escape Nazi-occupied areas.