The documents refer to “Jewish Converted Italians” and “non-Aryan Catholics,” which was a code word for
all Jews. Th e concordat of 1933 enabled the church to protect converted Jews, and so they used this clause to
protect all Jews. Th e January 1939 letter below states that the bishops should not only protect these people
but they should also protect their religious precepts, their religious books, and institutions. Th is would never
be necessary to state for baptized Catholics traveling to a Catholic country. In addition, no one could ever
assume in any practical sense that there were two hundred thousand converted Jews in Germany in 1938.
Over 250,000 Jews had already left Germany prior to Kristallnacht; 202,000 remained.
On the next page, you will see one response letter to Pacelli’s dated
January 16, 1939, in which the cardinal from Scotland refers to “the
refugee Jews,” not non-Aryan Catholics or converted Catholics.
Source: Pope Pius XII and World War II: The Documented Truth
