Was the churches of all denominations who remained silent and refused to get involved responsible for the holocaust?

Answer 1

It did not really remain silent for more information go to the link below:

Roman Catholic AnswerAs stated above, the Church was not silent. Pope Pius XII, of happy memory, did so much to help and he knew what he was doing, he had previously been assigned in Germany.

Other Answers

Many Roman Catholic individuals, families and monasteries helped, hid and cared for Jews at the time of the Holocaust. This is a form of witness, but of course it wasn't something they could proclaim publicly as their actions were illegal. The key debate has centred on what the church said as an institution - in other words higher up.

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The Catholic Church may not have been silent, but the issue that many people have is that it did not protest about what was happening to the Jews.

The reasons why it did not protest were held in its past actions and in its fear for the future.

it is true that Pius XII was very anti-communist and many commentators believe that the years he spent in Germany had made him sympathetic to the Nazis, but this is doing him a dis-service. He was fearful of any form of government that would challenge the Pontiff's position and hold over the people, Nazi Germany was a clear and present danger to that and if he spoke out against what was happening to the Jews, then he would put himself and the Papacy at risk.

When both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia divided Poland between then, they both persecuted and imprisoned hundreds of Catholic clergy, the Pope at this time did not speak out against these actions (nor against other anti-Catholic actions) as such he could not speak out against the anti-Jewish measures, elevation them to a status above his own people.

There is a lot more to it, but basically the Catholic church stayed silent because their first duty was to ensure their own survival, which was by no means guaranteed, before they could help others.

Since then the Catholic Church has tried to rehabilitate their image from this period and in time this will replace the truth.

Read 'We remember' a statement by the Pope in 1998 about the Catholic Church's involvement you will note how it is unable to show any protest that the church or the Pope made during the Holocaust, but it does make it look like the church was a victim of the Holocaust.

Answer 2

basically they had to look to their own survival, they were worried that if they helped, thier parrisioners would desert them, or the government might ban them.

Answer 3

basically because they had to ensure their own survival before they could help others

Answer 4

None of the major demoninations in Germany spoke out as a church.