# Pope a former Nazi? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 26, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736 "2008-12-26T15:48:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/1 "2008-12-26T15:48:28Z")
I am posting this in GQ because it presumably has a factual answer and I do not want to start a religious war. A recent posting on another forum (Pointless…) said, > [@](#): > > So an elderly dress-wearing bachelor and former Nazi who currently heads an insanely wealthy cult whch fronts for child molestors thinks we should strike a blow against homosexuality because it’s morally wrong? Yeah, I’ll get right on that, Benny. I would like to know if there is any evidence for the claim that the pope is a former Nazi. Is he even old enough for that? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/2 "2008-12-26T15:52:06Z")
The only piece of evidence I know of is that he was in Hitlerjugend as a kid, but as I said when I had this discussion when he was elected: virtually everybody was. He may well have been devoted to Nazism, but his membership in Hitlerjugend says nothing one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/3 "2008-12-26T15:57:54Z")
[When Joseph Ratzinger was 14, the head of his school enrolled him in the Hitler Youth, as he did with all his pupils.](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/21/international/worldspecial2/21germany.html?_r=1) > [@](#): > > By 1941, when the young Joseph Ratzinger joined the Hitler Youth, the Nazi Party had become an overweening force [in his hometown of Traunstein]. The director of St. Michael, a Catholic-run boarding school in Traunstein that Joseph Ratzinger attended, began automatically enrolling his students in the group in 1939, according to Mr. Evers. Characterizing him as a Nazi implies he supported Hitler’s government and its goals. Since the record shows he did not enroll in the Hitler Youth by choice, came from a family that opposed the Nazis, skipped meetings, joined a seminary and eventually deserted the army, the implication is at best ignorant and at worst grossly unfair. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/4 "2008-12-26T15:57:58Z")
As stated, he was a member of the Hitler Youth, which was a requirement for all boys his age at that time. This article in the [New York Times](http://bc.edu/research/cjl/meta-elements/texts/cjrelations/topics/new_pope_defied_nazis.htm) discusses his opposition to the Nazis during WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/5 "2008-12-26T16:24:05Z")
Yes, I figured it had to be something like that. He has enough to answer for, but I prefer to stick to facts. Maybe this thread should be closed since the question is answered. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/6 "2008-12-26T17:58:15Z")
He was not called Panzer Cardinal for nothing. Actung Holy Ghost!!! No doubt he was a devoted follower of Nazism… not!!! He was what 16 when the war ended, in other words still a kid. One way or another it did not matter. ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/7 "2008-12-26T18:02:37Z")
As another Doper once put it, Hitler Youth was something done _to_ German children. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/8 "2008-12-26T22:20:24Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I would like to know if there is any evidence for the claim that the pope is a former Nazi. Is he even old enough for that? Well, my suspicions were first aroused by his boyhood membership of a seemingly innocuous club called the Hitler Youth: subsequent research brought to light the alarming fact that this organisation was, in fact, largely made up of Hitler’s Youths. On one hand, “former Nazi” is probably an unfair characterisation; on the other hand, fuck him. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/9 "2008-12-26T22:28:53Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > On one hand, “former Nazi” is probably an unfair characterisation; on the other hand, fuck him. **Moderator Warning** As you should know, religious jabs like this are out of line in GQ. Do not do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/10 "2008-12-26T22:29:45Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Yes, I figured it had to be something like that. He has enough to answer for, but I prefer to stick to facts. Maybe this thread should be closed since the question is answered. Closing thread at suggestion of OP. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/11 "2008-12-26T22:34:59Z")
The other thread got closed just before I could post this: I’m no fan of the current Pope, and wouldn’t call him a Nazi (ex- or otherwise), but he did - involuntarily, by all reputable accounts - serve in the German armed forces during WW2: [Good fortune kept Ratzinger from thick of the war](http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Good-fortune-kept-Ratzinger-from-thick-of-the-war/2005/04/21/1114028484746.html) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-a-former-nazi/478736/12 "2008-12-26T22:43:48Z")
Merged threads. Colibri General Questions Moderator