RANDEE'S SLEEPWEAP • DAYWEAR • PLAYWEAR UP TO 75% OFF ALL SPRING & SUMMER CLOTHES about the deportations and mass murders almost as soon as they had begun. Had the pope, in 1941 or 1942 in- structed his officials all over Europe to do what he finally charged them to do in 1944 in Hungary, instead of timidly allowing each nuncio and of- ficial a free hand, more Jewish victims might certain- ly have been saved. , Individual Catholics did rescue Jews; an estimated 4,000 priests were killed in concentration camps; cons- cientious people like Lichtenberg and Kolbe, Car- dinal Faulhaber of Munich, Archbishop Szeptycki or Lvov, the Ursuline Sisters risked and in some cases sacrificed their lives out of their faith. The voices they heard were still, small ones inside of them. They did not hear the voice of the spiritual leader of their church — publicly silent, publicly creating a moral vacuum. In my experience interview- ing non-Jewish rescuers, or in reading the written testi- monies of Catholics who risk- ed their lives to hide or somehow assist Jews, not one has cited the pope's spiritual leadership; not one has men- tioned the 1937 encyclical; not one has referred to the saintly model set by the Vicar of Christ. The deportment of the pope must be placed in the context of that epoch. Innuendo and subtle condemnation in the face of such catastrophe ob- viously did little or nothing to halt the murder. Beyond religious sensibilities lie the facts of the destruction of families and the silence of authority. Were I to refer to Chrsitian theologians, one of them would be the Rev. Franklin Littell, who wrote that "the murder of 6 million Jews by baptized Christians, from whom membership in good standing was not (and has not been) withdrawn, raises the most insistent question about the credibility of Chris- tianity." The actions of the Catholic Church during the Holocaust are part of the history of the Holocaust and cannot be ex- amined as if the Vatican and the pope existed in a self- contained world. I have no "old scores with the Catholic Church" to settle, only the concerns of honest and ac- curate scholarship. Tenden- tiousness and "selective cita- tion of facts" appear to be in the eyes of the beholder. — FRANKLIN SAVINGS CENTRE BLDG. 26400 W. 12 Mile Road I Southfield, Michigan 48034 (313) 354-6070 NIBBLES & NUTS The Perfect Welcome Basket Gift Baskets and Trays for all occasions our specialty 19827 W. 12 Mile • 443-5550 • (Within Mailboxes Etc.) Local & Nationwide Delivery Kosher & Sugarfree Available Caution! Extremely Hot Savings! Tapper's Sizzling Summer Silver Selection Is Priced To Buy Now! A. Shining Sophistication. Sterling silver pins. Retail $63.50. Special Sale Price: $29.95 B. Bold and Beautiful. Classic and contemporary designs in sterling silver rings. Retail: $66.50. Special Sale Price: $39.95. C. Fashion with Flair. Contemporary collection of sterling silver earrings. Retail: $38.00. Special Sale Price: $19.95. Summer Savings at Tapper's. Get them while they're hot! Special sale prices good while quantity lasts. Now Available Tapper's Preferred Customer Charge Card. STORE HOURS: Monday-Friday 10 AM until 5:45 PM, Thursday until 8:45 PM and Saturday 10 AM until 5:45 PM. 26400 W. 12 Mile Rd. (N.E. corner of Northwestern) in the Franklin Savings Center. Phone 357-5578. MasterCard, Discovery and Visa Accepted. Cash refunds and free gift wrapping. rf fine jewelry and gifts Sidney Bolkosky Dearborn THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 41