Marktl am Inn
Those who attack the Pope for his compulsory membership in the Hitler Youth have lost the argument. They assert the Nazi association because they think it is their strongest point, and that is both ridiculous and pathetic.
Posted on 04/19/2005 1:38:13 PM PDT by yoely
BERLIN — In May 1945, thousands of German prisoners of war trudged down the highway toward the Bavarian town of Bad Aibling (search). Among them — tired but grateful to be alive — was 18-year-old Joseph Ratzinger (search), who just days before had risked death by deserting the German army.
"In three days of marching, we hiked down the empty highway, in a column that gradually became endless," the new pope recalled years later in his memoirs.
"The American soldiers photographed us, the young ones, most of all, in order to take home souvenirs of the defeated army and its desolate personnel."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Let alone a Diet of Worms ...
Yoely, thank you for a great post.
"Oh boy what was the Vatican thinking by putting a former German who was in WWII? You know something is going to come out of this."
After I heard the news about the new pope, I went to DU to see how the left was reacting, and they were already making up looney conspiracy theories and dragging the new pope through the mud about being a Nazi 60 years ago.
1927 Ratzinger is born on April 16, Holy Saturday in Marktl am Inn, and is baptized the same day. Reflecting on this experience in his memoirs, he says: To be the first person baptized with the new water was seen as a significant act of Providence. I have always been filled with thanksgiving for having had my life immersed in this way in the Easter Mystery . . . the more I reflect on it, the more this seems fitting for the nature of our human life: we are still waiting for Easter; we are not yet standing in the full light but walking toward it full of trust. [p. 8, Milestones] Ratzinger admits it is not easy to say what his 'hometown' is. As a rural policeman, his father was transferred frequently, and his family was continually on the road.1929 Ratzinger's family moves to Tittmoning, a small town on the Salzach River, on the Austrian border.
1932 December: Due to his father's outspoken criticism of the Nazis, Ratzinger's family is forced to relocate to Auschau am Inn, at the foot of the Alps.
1937 Ratzinger's father retires and his family moves to Hufschlag, outside the city of Traunstein, where Josef would spend most of his years as a teenager. Here he begins classes at the local gymnasium for classical languages, where he studies Latin and Greek.
1939 Ratzinger enters the minor seminary in Traunstein, the initial step of his ecclesiastical career.
1943 Ratzinger, along with the rest of his seminary class, is drafted into the Flak [anti-aircraft corps]. He is still allowed to attend classes at the Maximilians-Gymnasium in Munich three days a week.
1944 September: Having reached military age, Ratzinger is released from the Flak and returns home, only to be drafted into labor detail under the infamous Austrian Legion ("fanatical ideologues who tyrannized us without respite"). November: Ratzinger undergoes basic training with the German infantry. Due to illness he finds himself exempt from most of the rigors of military duty.
1945 Spring (end of April or beginning of May): As the Allied front draws closer, Ratzinger deserts the army and heads home to Traunstein. When the Americans finally arrive at his village, they choose to establish their headquarters in the Ratzinger house. Josef is identified as a German soldier and incarcerated in a POW camp. June 19: Ratzinger is released and returns home to Traunstein, followed by his brother Georg in July. November: Ratzinger and his brother Georg re-enter the seminary.
A story like that kind of makes you wonder who exactly he met in the gulag.
The fact that he was in the German army, regardless of the fact that it was compulsory at that point, didn't make him a Nazi to begin with. The German army wasn't Nazi per se.
he says he never fired a shot but deserted the Nazi army as soon as he could
Ping Bookmark-Thanks Beautiful.
So did everybody else. The Germans made the mistake of losing the war...
A male newsjerk on Larry King said that Ratzinger joined the Nazi Youth because "of youthful excess" and "everyone else was doing it". I about blew a gasket.
Time to call Best of the Web. : )
I stand corrected. I meant the German Army. Yes I know there were a very effective fighting force, but they were fighting for Hitler and Nazi Germany.
When did I say I "hate" the Germans? That is quite a stretch to say if you have an opinion about the Germans, then that means "hate". You sound like a die hard leftist.
I don't know if you're a Christian or not, Sprite, but if you are, you know about the spiritual warfare we are in. You know that the Enemy is trying to destroy us. But if you know the Scripture, you also know that the battle has already been won through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I am not a Catholic, but I know that we as Christians are in this battle together and we must not cower because the Enemy is attacking us. And I know that this is NOT about PR, or what the MSM will do in their collusion with the Enemy to destroy us.
It is about God's will, and that, I believe, has been done in the selection of this strong, good man as Pope Benedict XVI.
Enlighten me please.
Oh yeah you are right. Boozing it up on this end. LOL!
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