Editing Pope Pius XII (section)

===Contemporary===
During the war, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' credited Pius XII and the Catholic Church for "fighting [[totalitarianism]] more knowingly, devoutly and authoritatively, and for a longer time, than any other organised power".<ref>Time. 16 August 1943.</ref> During the war he was also praised editorially by ''[[The New York Times]]'' for opposing Nazi antisemitism and aggression.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicleague.org/pius.php?id=21|title=New York Times 25 December 1941 and 25 December 1942|publisher=Catholicleague.org|access-date=12 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731121713/http://www.catholicleague.org/pius.php?id=21 <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=31 July 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to Paul O'Shea, "The Nazis demonised the Pope as the agent of [[international Jewry]]; the Americans and British were continually frustrated because he would not condemn Nazi aggression; and the Russians accused him of being an agent of Fascism and the Nazis."<ref>Paul O'Shea; ''A Cross Too Heavy''; Rosenberg Publishing; 2008; pp. 40–41</ref>

On 21 September 1945, the general secretary of the [[World Jewish Congress]], [[Aryeh Leon Kubowitzki]], presented an amount of money to the Pope, "in recognition of the work of the Holy See in rescuing Jews from Fascist and Nazi persecutions."<ref>McInerney, 2001, p. 155</ref> After the war, in the autumn of 1945, Harry Greenstein from [[Baltimore]], a close friend of Chief Rabbi Herzog of [[Jerusalem]], told Pius XII how grateful Jews were for all he had done for them. "My only regret", the Pope replied, "is not to have been able to save a greater number of Jews".<ref>McInerney, Ralph, ''The Defamation of Pius XII'', 2001.<!-- ISBN missing --></ref>

Pius XII was also criticised during his lifetime. [[Leon Poliakov]] wrote in 1950 that Pius XII had been a tacit supporter of [[Vichy France]]'s antisemitic laws, calling him "less forthright" than [[Pope Pius XI]] either out of "[[Germanophile|Germanophilia]]" or the hope that Hitler would defeat Communist Russia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Poliakov |first1 = Leon |last2 = November |year = 1950 |title = The Vatican and the 'Jewish Question': The Record of the Hitler Period—and After |journal = Commentary |volume = 10 |pages = 439–49}}</ref>

After Pius XII's death on 9 October 1958 many Jewish organisations and newspapers around the world paid tribute to his legacy. At the [[United Nations]], [[Golda Meir]], Israel's Foreign Minister, said, "When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the Pope was raised for the victims. The life of our times was enriched by a voice speaking out on the great moral truths above the tumult of daily conflict."<ref name="ewtn">{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/issues/pius12gs.htm|title=The Good Samaritan. Jewish Praise for Pope Pius XII by Dimitri Cavalli|publisher=Ewtn.com|access-date=12 September 2010|archive-date=23 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823131406/http://www.ewtn.com/library/issues/pius12gs.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (London) stated on 10 October, "Adherents of all creeds and parties will recall how Pius XII faced the responsibilities of his exalted office with courage and devotion. Before, during, and after the Second World War, he constantly preached the message of peace. Confronted by the monstrous cruelties of [[Nazism]], [[Fascism]] and [[Communism]], he repeatedly proclaimed the virtues of humanity and compassion."<ref name="ewtn"/> In the Canadian Jewish Chronicle (17 October), Rabbi J. Stern stated that Pius XII "made it possible for thousands of Jewish victims of Nazism and Fascism to be hidden away..."<ref name="ewtn"/> In 6 November edition of ''[[The Jewish Post & News]]'' in [[Winnipeg]], William Zukerman, the former ''[[The American Hebrew]]'' columnist, wrote that no other leader "did more to help the Jews in their hour of greatest tragedy, during the Nazi occupation of Europe, than the late Pope".<ref name="ewtn"/> Other prominent Jewish figures, such as Israeli Prime Minister [[Moshe Sharett]] and Chief Rabbi [[Yitzhak Herzog]] expressed their public gratitude to Pius XII.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicleague.org/a-righteous-gentile-pope-pius-xii-and-the-jews/|title=A Righteous Gentile: Pope Pius XII and the Jews|author=Rabbi David Dalin|date=26 February 2001|publisher=Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights|access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref>