N2NH
05-09-2013, 11:05 PM
Incredibly idiotic thinking. Invading Switzerland. Killing the Pope...
Fun fact about Hitler: In the 1930s, he ordered Catholic schools to replace their classroom crucifixes with pictures of him (http://books.google.com/books?id=Tmiwsd7-jGcC&pg=PA49&dq=hitler+catholic+schools+crucifixes&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SC6oT-i9Da3KiQKyifWRAQ&ved=0CGQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=hitler%20catholic%20schools%20crucifixes&f=false). If ever there was a piece of trivia that encapsulated how Adolf saw himself in the larger world, that was probably it. In hindsight, it's kind of easy to blast the papacy for not doing enough to help European Jews during the Holocaust, just so long as you remember that they were dealing with a guy who was only steps away from abolishing all religions and setting himself up as Germany's lord and savior (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Nazi_Germany#Messianic_aspects_of_Nazi sm).
Step one in that plan: Seize the Vatican. Step two: Kidnap the Pope. Step three: Hitler ... is declared god, we guess?
The Stupidity:
By 1943, Pope Pius XII began making vague yet public condemnations of Nazi human rights abuses, and Hitler started making vague threats of killing him for it. Not to the world at large, of course, because he was crazy, not stupid. Or not that stupid, anyway. According to SS General Karl Wolff, Adolf himself gave him a special mission in September 1943 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleged_plot_to_kidnap_Pope_Pius_XII), saying, "I want you and your troops to occupy Vatican City as soon as possible, secure its files and art treasures and take the Pope and curia to the north."
As you might know, this didn't happen... but there's more on this and 4 other 'plans.'
5 Nazi Plans That Prove They Were Dumber Than You Think (http://www.cracked.com/article_19840_5-nazi-plans-that-prove-they-were-dumber-than-you-think.html)
Fun fact about Hitler: In the 1930s, he ordered Catholic schools to replace their classroom crucifixes with pictures of him (http://books.google.com/books?id=Tmiwsd7-jGcC&pg=PA49&dq=hitler+catholic+schools+crucifixes&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SC6oT-i9Da3KiQKyifWRAQ&ved=0CGQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=hitler%20catholic%20schools%20crucifixes&f=false). If ever there was a piece of trivia that encapsulated how Adolf saw himself in the larger world, that was probably it. In hindsight, it's kind of easy to blast the papacy for not doing enough to help European Jews during the Holocaust, just so long as you remember that they were dealing with a guy who was only steps away from abolishing all religions and setting himself up as Germany's lord and savior (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Nazi_Germany#Messianic_aspects_of_Nazi sm).
Step one in that plan: Seize the Vatican. Step two: Kidnap the Pope. Step three: Hitler ... is declared god, we guess?
The Stupidity:
By 1943, Pope Pius XII began making vague yet public condemnations of Nazi human rights abuses, and Hitler started making vague threats of killing him for it. Not to the world at large, of course, because he was crazy, not stupid. Or not that stupid, anyway. According to SS General Karl Wolff, Adolf himself gave him a special mission in September 1943 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleged_plot_to_kidnap_Pope_Pius_XII), saying, "I want you and your troops to occupy Vatican City as soon as possible, secure its files and art treasures and take the Pope and curia to the north."
As you might know, this didn't happen... but there's more on this and 4 other 'plans.'
5 Nazi Plans That Prove They Were Dumber Than You Think (http://www.cracked.com/article_19840_5-nazi-plans-that-prove-they-were-dumber-than-you-think.html)