The Catholic Church in Poland during the Holocaust

This document analysis and translation addresses the topic of the Polish clergy in occupied Poland during the Second World War. Appearing for the first time, two primary source documents have been translated into English that involve reports from occupied Poland in 1943. The document analysis that foregrounds the presented translated sources offers key background context into the situation of the Catholic Church in Poland and the experiences of local and regional clergy. The information found and drawn out in the analysis speaks to the important intersection between the Vatican, the clergy, the Second World War, and experiences of occupation at the local and regional level. It contributes a new perspective to existing scholarship on religion and the Holocaust by exploring the roles of non-German members of the Catholic clergy. Furthermore, it moves away from a Vatican-focused approach by examining how local clergymen navigated their situations in diverse ways. These newly translated documents and analysis contribute to recent studies regarding religion and genocide, as well as lived experiences of war and conflict, with Poland as its geographical focus

Art · Political science · The Holocaust · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · History · Law · Polish Historical and Cultural Studies · Polish-Jewish Holocaust Memory Studies