[AnAmericanMother]

Not Luther's shining hour.

But a lot of anti-Semitism in that time was simply reflexive and largely political, not personal. If a hungry Jewish guy showed up at Luther's door, I'm pretty sure he would have taken him in and given him a meal.

But by the time of World War II the Catholic Church was strongly anti-Nazi. If you read contemporary sources, you'll find that everyone from Golda Meir to the New York Times was agreed on this point.

The change in attitude stems largely from a play written in the 60s, Der Stellvertreter ("The Deputy"). It is only after that time that the idea that "the Pope didn't do enough" became "the Pope was a Nazi sympathizer" and then became "the Pope was a Nazi".

Interestingly enough, Stasi records that recently became public show that the play was funded by East Germany as part of a Communist effort to discredit the church.

[safisoft]

But a lot of anti-Semitism in that time was simply reflexive and largely political, not personal. If a hungry Jewish guy showed up at Luther's door, I'm pretty sure he would have taken him in and given him a meal.

Earlier in his life, yes. However when he wrote, "Jews and Their Lies" he was especially bitter toward Jews. He assumed that when he broke with Rome, Jews would flock to Protestantism. Reading Luther's "Jews and Their Lies" is a chilling bit of prophecy of the "Final Solution."

[presidio9]

Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly. -Albert Einstein