Vatican: Ratzinger was "never" in Hitler Youth. Pope: I was.

The official Vatican spokesman said today that the German-born Pope Benedict XVI was never a member of the Hitler Youth. Small problem: the pope himself admitted that he was. And he's infallible.
Reverend Federico Lombardi claimed that the pope, whose speech at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial Monday was slammed in Israel as too abstract, impersonal and unapologetic, "was never in the Hitler Youth, never, never, never.”

But in “Salt of the Earth”, a 1996 autobiography, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said that he was forced to enroll into the Hitler Youth.

Asked if he had been a member, he said: “At first we weren’t, but when the compulsory Hitler Youth was introduced in 1941, my brother was obliged to join. I was still too young, but later, as a seminarian, I was registered in the HY. As soon as I was out of the seminary, I never went back.”

Lombardi refused to say why the Vatican had not previously denied reports about membership in the Hitler Youth. Media reports highlighted this issue even before Benedict was elected in 2005, and it regularly appears in articles about him.

The speaker of Israel’s parliament, criticizing the pope’s Yad Vashem speech, called him a “German who joined the Hitler Youth and ... a person who joined Hitler’s army”.

Histories of the air-aircraft auxiliary corps the Pope belonged to, known as the “Flakhelfer”, and of the Hitler Youth, describe the auxiliaries as being organised as a unit of the Hitler Youth.

Tags: Hitler Youth, Nazi, Papal visit, Pope, Rat singer, Ratzinger, Vatican

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Comment by Minerva on May 14, 2009 at 7:04pm: RedSniper,

According to the information I linked above, he was drafted at 16.

Comment by RedSniper on May 13, 2009 at 10:17pm: The picture is a hoax, whatever the sourse. I am too lazy to check, but I am pretty sure the Ratzinger was barely in his teens when he was drafted. Sure enough, those little pricks from HJ were dangerous sometimes, when armed with Panzerfaust, but regardless - the guy on the photo (Futuro Papa (sic)) is well in his 30's. BTW - the other fella ID'ed as "Menguele" is actually Goebbels. Very crude hoax.

Comment by Minerva on May 13, 2009 at 7:07pm: Is the guy in the picture the current Pope, really? According to the data in one of the links I sent above, he deserted at 18.

I am disappointed because I had expected different reactions from him but understand your point as well.

Comment by RedSniper on May 13, 2009 at 3:37pm: See, I never get disappointed with pope. To me he's just an old guy, wearing a dress, and presiding over many curious/queer rituals. So the plank is set pretty low to begin with. And whatever his subordinates (cardinals, bishops, priests etc) do or say, to me ,matters even less. What I am dissaponted in, is the blatant theatrics, some Johnny-cum-lately Nazi-fighters engage in. "Critisizing" current pope for being drafted to Hitler Youth and Volksturm when war was all but decided is cheap.

Comment by Minerva on May 12, 2009 at 11:29pm: RedSniper,

I am surprised at the warm welcome after the argument over the negationist bishops and priests during the Gaza op. In fact, I got very disappointed with the Pope and have not got over it yet. So I understand those who criticise him. But I believe he should be criticised for that he's responsible for, not for what he isn't.

And look at here

Our World: Opportunity is knocking at Israel's door
By CAROLINE GLICK
Like nature, Israel's strategic relations abhor a vacuum. In the wake of the Obama administration's decision to drastically curtail the US's strategic alliance with Israel in the interest of American rapprochement with Iran and Syria, the Netanyahu government has been moving swiftly to fill the void.
On Monday, with Pope Benedict XVI's arrival and with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's visit with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at Sharm e-Sheikh, two potential strategic alliances came into view.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242029503802&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Comment by RedSniper on May 12, 2009 at 7:55pm: Uh - I hope I am not the only one feeling REALLY uncomfortable with the way some Israeli political hacks climb on their soap-box to take a pot-shot at the Pope. Such behaviour smacks of a total lack of class, low self-esteem as a Jew and cheap self-promotion. It would serve to battle Nazism in 1933-1945, rather than accusing this old man of being a Nazi on a basis of his compulsory enrollment in Hitlerjugend as a TEENAGER 65 years ago! This Knesset Speaker is either a total schmuck, or has resently arrived to a Big Town atop of a turnip truck. Total rubbish - brave knight, battling a 65-year-dead dragon.

Comment by Minerva on May 12, 2009 at 6:35pm: I missed this detail
Vatican: Ratzinger was "never" in Hitler Youth.

This must be the reason why they omit it in his official biography.

Comment by Minerva on May 12, 2009 at 5:40pm: Hello.

When Ratzinger was elected Pope I heard about him having been a Nazi. I searched for information and found something similar to this:

http://www.abitur-werne.de/english/religion/bio-pope-benedict.html

I have now seen that episode of his life is not in the official biographies. Maybe it is not considered very important.

According to what I read at that time, his family were anti-Nazi and his father was punished for criticising Hitler. I have found something about this as well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI

As for his enlisting in the army: from what I read, he was recruited at 16, his health was not good so sending him to the war was delayed till a few months before the end of the war. As soon as he saw the chance, he deserted and went back home. The Americans knew he was a soldier, caught him prisoner and sent him to a camp, where he spent a few months and then was released.