Pope Pius XII

The opening of Pius XII's Vatican archives in 2020 gave historians new evidence about the information reaching the pope during the Holocaust. A letter publicised in 2023 showed detailed reports of Nazi killing reaching him through a trusted German Jesuit, challenging explanations based on an inability to verify atrocities. Other released files document appeals for help and Vatican responses. The evidence has intensified, not ended, disagreement about his public silence, diplomatic choices and rescue activity; no single letter supplies a complete account of the papacy's conduct.