August Hlond

August Cardinal Hlond (July 5, 1881 - October 22, 1948) was a Polish prelate. He was Archbishop of Poznań and Gniezno in 1926 and primate (highest ranking church official) in Poland, Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw in 1946.

Youth

Second son of a simple railway worker, he was born in the Upper Silesian city of Mysłowice in 1881. After finishing school eduation in Poland, he was sent to Italy, where he studied philosophy at the Papal University. Completed his baccalaureate grade in 1904 in Poland. Consecrated to Bishop in 1926, and Cardinal in 1927.

Controversial bishop

Infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=August Cardinal Hlond
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
See=Gniezno|In 1936 Cardinal Hlond, as Primate of Poland issued a pastoral letter articulating the official stance of the Polish hierarchy towards Poland's Jews [Brian Porter. [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~baporter/space_for_antisemitism.pdf Making a Space for Anti-Semitism: The Catholic Hierarchy and the Jews in the early 20th Century.] "Polin," 16 (2003):415-429.] "There will be a Jewish problem as long as the Jews remain...It is a fact that the Jews fight against the Catholic church, they are free-thinkers, and constitute the vanguard of atheism, bolshevism and revolution. It is true that the Jews are committing frauds, practicing usury, and dealing in white slavery. It is also true that in the schools the Jewish youth is having an evil influence, from an ethical and religious point of view, on the Catholic youth."

Hlond tempered these remarks with admonitions to not harm Jews: "But let us be just. Not all Jews are like that. One does well to avoid Jewish shops and Jewish stalls in the markets, but it is not permitted to demolish Jewish businesses. One should protect oneself against the influence of Jewish morals...but it is inadmissible to assault, hit or injure Jews. In a Jew you should also respect and love a human being and your neighbor." (August Cardinal Hlond's Pastoral Letter of February 29, 1936 which was read from pulpits across the country.) Hlond also offered support for a boycott of Jewish businesses, [Joseph Marcus. [http://books.google.com/books?id=82ncGA4GuN4C&pg=PA363&dq=%22august+hlond%22+jews+condemned&sig=ACfU3U3z8mmDtouQ0XgmiTGdIn6Z4AdbmA "Social and Political History of the Jews in Poland, 1919-1939."] Walter de Gruyter, 1983.] and indicated a willingness on the part of the church to accept conversion of Jews. [Brian Porter. [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~baporter/antisemitism_and_catholic_modernity.pdf Anti-Semitism and the Search for a Catholic Modernity.] In Robert Blobaum, Ed. "Antisemitism and Its Opponents in Modern Poland". Cornell University Press, 2005:103-123.] Hlond's letter was criticized by Polish Jewish groups, who saw it as offering support and a rationalization for anti-semitism. [Richard S. Levy. [http://books.google.com/books?id=Tdn6FFZklkcC&pg=RA1-PA310&dq=%22august+hlond%22+jews&sig=ACfU3U0lETrUnAnbXpAj3qmgGXRkiuaEHQ#PRA1-PA310,M1 "Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution"] . ABC-CLIO, 2005.]

In 1939 Hlond spent several months in Rome for the conclave of 1939. In January 1940, Vatican Radio broadcast Hlond's reports of German persecution of Jews and the Catholic clergy in Poland. These reports were included in the report of the Polish government to the Nuremberg Trials after the war.

Cardinal August Hlond reported in August 1941 to the secretary of state that the Polish people believed Pope Pius XII had abandoned them. This was said in light of the Nazi persecution of the Polish church and clergy.

He lived in southern France from 1940 to 1944 during most of World War II. He was arrested by the Gestapo on February 3, 1944, but was freed by the Allies on April 1, 1945. He returned to Poznań on July 20, 1945. He was transferred to Warsaw and named primate of Poland on June 13, 1946. He strongly opposed the communist regime there.

Hlond has been accused of overstepping his authority by forcing German officeholders to resign their church posts in 1945 in favor of Poles, thereby supporting the Polish annexation of historical eastern German territories after Potsdam. Maximilian Kaller was one of the bishops who was removed from his diocese and deported to West Germany. Kaller is now in process of beatification. Another bishop forced out was Carl Maria Splett, Bishop of Danzig.

Beatification and further controversy

Professor Franz Scholz, a German theologian, as well as many others have expressed their opposition to the proposed beatification of Cardinal Hlond. Scholz opposes his actions against post-war German expellees and civilians on territory annexated by the Polish Republic. Again Jewish groups, for example, have pointed out that not long after his 1935 call to boycott Jewish shopkeepers, Cardinal Hlond wrote a pastoral letter in 1936 that proved harmful to Polish JewsFact|date=February 2007. Some historians have suggested that because of Hlond's allegedly anti-Semitic views, the Roman Catholic Church effectively provided religious cover to the country's extremist anti-Jewish groupsFact|date=February 2007. Jewish citizens, they say, were directly affected by Cardinal Hlond's letter. However, it must be noted, that while Hlond promoted the expulsion of German civilians after World War II, Hlond had always consistently condemned the Nazi persecution of the Jews and had been openly opposed to all actions hurting Jews materially and physically. Another controversy was caused by Hlond's reaction to Kielce pogrom, that took place in Polish town of Kielce on July 4, 1946. While condeming murders, Hlond denied racist nature of this crime.reflist> [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN077352326X&id=AZZoTdLB4nwC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&ots=8PSqpzBkEW&dq=Kielce+Hlond&sig=wHLFa4QhzyWx8Rf7TBt3WzHfyYg "The Lonely Cold War of Pope Pius XII: The Roman Catholic Church and the Division of Europe"] Peter C. Kent] He saw pogrom as a reaction against Jewish bureaucrats serving Communist regime. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0253337259&id=Ik_6WgPPxsoC&pg=PA181&lpg=PA181&ots=4qAcee3NjL&dq=Kielce+Hlond&sig=dQlQ9V0BDIS76r4VSoHb-102354 "The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930-1965"] Michael Phayer] This position was echoed by Cardinal Sapieha, who was reported to have said that the Jews brought it on themselves. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN077352326X&id=AZZoTdLB4nwC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&ots=8PSqpzBkEW&dq=Kielce+Hlond&sig=wHLFa4QhzyWx8Rf7TBt3WzHfyYg "The Lonely Cold War of Pope Pius XII: The Roman Catholic Church and the Division of Europe"] Peter C. Kent]

References

External links

* [http://ibiblio.org/yiddish/Places/Buczacz/bucz-p3.htm Martin Rudner report of letter by Polish Primate Cardinal August Hlond's]
* [http://www.ce-review.org/01/14/orlet14.html Central Eastern Review:, Jedwabne for Hlond's anti-Jewish statement and Minorities in Poland]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pope/etc/bio.html Frontline article mentioning Hlond's anti-Jewish statements]