By the 1920s, a new element was creeping into the familiar anti-Jesuit discourse and that was the added language of anti-Semitism. Now the press could point to conspiracies between Jews and Jesuits, suggesting that Bolshevism was organized and controlled by Jews who lied and sought world power, just like the Jesuits supposedly did. Both Jews and Jesuits, now joined together in imagery, were seen as existential threats to the new Finnish nation.
In Beth Griech-Polelle’s article, we find a similar theme to that of Elmgren’s research: Jesuits and Jews are portrayed as being one and the same entity posing an existential threat, only this time, it is not in Finnish post-Civil War society, but rather in Nazi Germany. Examining the views of various Nazi leaders, Griech-Polelle seeks to show how Adolf Hitler, Alfred Rosenberg, Dietrich Eckart, and others conflated long-standing stereotypes and imagery of Jesuits with stereotypes of Jewish-ness and Bolshevism. In these leaders’ minds, Bolshevism was the product of Jewish materialistic thinking and Jesuitism had been inundated with “Jewish qualities.” Both Jesuitism and Jewish-ness were seen as working together to pose an existential threat to the continued success of the German people.
Much like Elmgren’s research, negative stereotypes about Jesuits were quite popular and familiar in German society. A strong anti-Jesuit tradition pre-dated the Nazi regime, stretching back into the sixteenth century. Many of the myths and stereotypes regarding the Jesuits supposed quest for world domination, their use of deception and manipulation to gain wealth and power, and the maxim “the end justifies the means” emerge at this early time. In particular, one influential work, the Monita Privata Societatis Jesu (Private directives of the Society of Jesus) appeared as an “expose” of the order. Hieronim Zahorowski, an embittered young man, forged the Monita thereby establishing a pamphlet that enemies of the Jesuits could use as “proof” of the conspiratorial and acquisitive nature of the order. Zahorowski’s work, despite being proven to be a forgery, took on a life of its own, helping to further the imagery of Jesuits as being cunning, manipulative, scheming, and greedy for world domination.
As if these qualities were not enough to damn the Jesuits in many enemies’ eyes, further elements would be added to compound the threat the Society posed to German society. As time progressed, men such as Dietrich Eckart wrote an influential work depicting Jews as historically deceptive, cunning, manipulative, international and working for world domination. Eckart’s work also discussed the rise of Christianity, a movement which he argues was corrupted by “Jewish thinking” from its outset particularly by the writings of St. Paul. Nazi newspapers such as Der Stürmer (The attacker) lent support to the proposition that the Catholic Church had been infiltrated by Jews at its highest levels and that, therefore, the teachings of the Church were from the minds of Jews.
Alfred Rosenberg, another early Nazi Party member, wrote a history of the Jews in 1920 and, like Eckart, connected Christianity with Jewish corruption. Using the recently published collection of Rosenberg’s diary, Griech-Polelle asserts that Rosenberg saw links between Catholicism and Bolshevism, with some entries implying that Jesuits ruled over the Vatican and were in league with Communist forces fighting in Spain and with Jews all over the world. His assertion was that Jesuits ran the Catholic Church from behind the scenes and that they had imbued the Church with “Jewish and Bolshevik traits.”
Hitler revealed his thoughts in Mein Kampf by using the same language of the Monita to describe priests as liars, politically ambitious, and cunning. These same words could be used to describe Jews in Hitler’s mind and, according to his great leader theory, it was the genius of a leader who could successfully combine all enemies into one. Thus Jews, Jesuits, Catholicism, and Bolshevism were all combined together and were portrayed as a threat to Germany’s continued existence. In Hitler’s Secret Conversations, Hitler stated, “Bolshevism is Christianity’s illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jew.” His conversations also reveal how ingrained the anti-Jesuit imagery had become in Hitler’s mind: he consistently used language reminiscent of the Monita to describe, in general terms, the crafty manipulations of the Jesuit order, conflating Jesuits with “Jewish qualities” and by extension, seeing Catholicism and Bolshevism as stemming from the same root. Linking Jesuits with Jews, and Catholicism with Bolshevism, allowed Hitler to argue that only one enemy existed for the German people to fight.
Philippe Chenaux’s article on Ledóchowski allows us to move away from the specter of Jesuits as they had been imagined in writings, to a real, living Jesuit whose leadership of the Society bridges both World War One and part of World War Two. Ledóchowski became the superior general of the Jesuits on February 11, 1915 but even before his election as leader of the order, he had served as a special counselor for Russian affairs at the Vatican. As the Bolshevik Revolution was unfolding in the opening years of Ledóchowski’s leadership of the order, the superior general would play a central role in fighting against the spread of communism. Chenaux explores the link between anti-Semitism and anti-communism in his thinking. Much like in Griech-Polelle’s article, intellectuals commonly argued that Jews were at the core of an international conspiracy aiming at world control. The Society’s general spoke frequently about the threat posed by Jews and communism. He argued that the Russian Bolshevik Revolution stemmed from an international group of Jews seeking to destroy Christian civilization.
As the Soviet Union initiated campaigns to interfere with religious practices, Ledóchowski established a secretariat of modern atheism in October 1934. The plan was to counter all communist propaganda with Catholic teachings and ideology. The Society of Jesus was to be in charge of all counter-propaganda. The first publication appeared in May 1935 calling for a Catholic international source to fight against militant atheism. In addition, the Secretariat of Modern Atheism put together exhibitions which provided examples of communist propaganda and its attempts to eradicate Christianity.
Ledóchowski’s fight against communism would not end there. He suggested to Pope Pius xi in 1936 that the latter organize Catholics all over the world to engage in battle against communism. Using newly accessible documents from the Vatican, Chenaux shows how deeply involved Ledóchowski was in the publication of the Divini redemptoris encyclical. The encyclical, released in March 1937, condemned communism in no uncertain terms. Although Ledóchowski apparently wanted a reference to connections between Jews and communism, this was ultimately left out by the pope. To the superior general, there was no graver threat than communism to Christian civilization.
Overlapping in time with Ledóchowski’s tenure as superior general, Marisa Patulli Trythall’s article examines the work of Father Edmund Aloysius Walsh in his role as emissary for the Papal Famine Relief Mission to Russia (1922–23). Trythall’s work allows the reader to see how the Vatican viewed the Bolshevik Revolution in real time. Here again, we encounter Ledóchowski, writing to the Vatican secretary of state, offering advice for the thirteen missionaries being sent to Russia. Echoing Chenaux’s article, Trythall incorporates direct quotes from Ledóchowski’s memo where he baldly states that the Russian Revolution was caused by Jews seeking to destroy Christian civilization. Walsh’s travel diary also reveals his thinking when he notes the names of the leaders of the Bolshevik government, highlighting their Jewish surnames “to reveal their true nature.” In this, Trythall concludes that Walsh was a man of his time.
By the 1920s, a new element was creeping into the familiar anti-Jesuit discourse and that was the added language of anti-Semitism. Now the press could point to conspiracies between Jews and Jesuits, suggesting that Bolshevism was organized and controlled by Jews who lied and sought world power, just like the Jesuits supposedly did. Both Jews and Jesuits, now joined together in imagery, were seen as existential threats to the new Finnish nation.
In Beth Griech-Polelle’s article, we find a similar theme to that of Elmgren’s research: Jesuits and Jews are portrayed as being one and the same entity posing an existential threat, only this time, it is not in Finnish post-Civil War society, but rather in Nazi Germany. Examining the views of various Nazi leaders, Griech-Polelle seeks to show how Adolf Hitler, Alfred Rosenberg, Dietrich Eckart, and others conflated long-standing stereotypes and imagery of Jesuits with stereotypes of Jewish-ness and Bolshevism. In these leaders’ minds, Bolshevism was the product of Jewish materialistic thinking and Jesuitism had been inundated with “Jewish qualities.” Both Jesuitism and Jewish-ness were seen as working together to pose an existential threat to the continued success of the German people.
Much like Elmgren’s research, negative stereotypes about Jesuits were quite popular and familiar in German society. A strong anti-Jesuit tradition pre-dated the Nazi regime, stretching back into the sixteenth century. Many of the myths and stereotypes regarding the Jesuits supposed quest for world domination, their use of deception and manipulation to gain wealth and power, and the maxim “the end justifies the means” emerge at this early time. In particular, one influential work, the Monita Privata Societatis Jesu (Private directives of the Society of Jesus) appeared as an “expose” of the order. Hieronim Zahorowski, an embittered young man, forged the Monita thereby establishing a pamphlet that enemies of the Jesuits could use as “proof” of the conspiratorial and acquisitive nature of the order. Zahorowski’s work, despite being proven to be a forgery, took on a life of its own, helping to further the imagery of Jesuits as being cunning, manipulative, scheming, and greedy for world domination.
As if these qualities were not enough to damn the Jesuits in many enemies’ eyes, further elements would be added to compound the threat the Society posed to German society. As time progressed, men such as Dietrich Eckart wrote an influential work depicting Jews as historically deceptive, cunning, manipulative, international and working for world domination. Eckart’s work also discussed the rise of Christianity, a movement which he argues was corrupted by “Jewish thinking” from its outset particularly by the writings of St. Paul. Nazi newspapers such as Der Stürmer (The attacker) lent support to the proposition that the Catholic Church had been infiltrated by Jews at its highest levels and that, therefore, the teachings of the Church were from the minds of Jews.
Alfred Rosenberg, another early Nazi Party member, wrote a history of the Jews in 1920 and, like Eckart, connected Christianity with Jewish corruption. Using the recently published collection of Rosenberg’s diary, Griech-Polelle asserts that Rosenberg saw links between Catholicism and Bolshevism, with some entries implying that Jesuits ruled over the Vatican and were in league with Communist forces fighting in Spain and with Jews all over the world. His assertion was that Jesuits ran the Catholic Church from behind the scenes and that they had imbued the Church with “Jewish and Bolshevik traits.”
Hitler revealed his thoughts in Mein Kampf by using the same language of the Monita to describe priests as liars, politically ambitious, and cunning. These same words could be used to describe Jews in Hitler’s mind and, according to his great leader theory, it was the genius of a leader who could successfully combine all enemies into one. Thus Jews, Jesuits, Catholicism, and Bolshevism were all combined together and were portrayed as a threat to Germany’s continued existence. In Hitler’s Secret Conversations, Hitler stated, “Bolshevism is Christianity’s illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jew.” His conversations also reveal how ingrained the anti-Jesuit imagery had become in Hitler’s mind: he consistently used language reminiscent of the Monita to describe, in general terms, the crafty manipulations of the Jesuit order, conflating Jesuits with “Jewish qualities” and by extension, seeing Catholicism and Bolshevism as stemming from the same root. Linking Jesuits with Jews, and Catholicism with Bolshevism, allowed Hitler to argue that only one enemy existed for the German people to fight.
Philippe Chenaux’s article on Ledóchowski allows us to move away from the specter of Jesuits as they had been imagined in writings, to a real, living Jesuit whose leadership of the Society bridges both World War One and part of World War Two. Ledóchowski became the superior general of the Jesuits on February 11, 1915 but even before his election as leader of the order, he had served as a special counselor for Russian affairs at the Vatican. As the Bolshevik Revolution was unfolding in the opening years of Ledóchowski’s leadership of the order, the superior general would play a central role in fighting against the spread of communism. Chenaux explores the link between anti-Semitism and anti-communism in his thinking. Much like in Griech-Polelle’s article, intellectuals commonly argued that Jews were at the core of an international conspiracy aiming at world control. The Society’s general spoke frequently about the threat posed by Jews and communism. He argued that the Russian Bolshevik Revolution stemmed from an international group of Jews seeking to destroy Christian civilization.
As the Soviet Union initiated campaigns to interfere with religious practices, Ledóchowski established a secretariat of modern atheism in October 1934. The plan was to counter all communist propaganda with Catholic teachings and ideology. The Society of Jesus was to be in charge of all counter-propaganda. The first publication appeared in May 1935 calling for a Catholic international source to fight against militant atheism. In addition, the Secretariat of Modern Atheism put together exhibitions which provided examples of communist propaganda and its attempts to eradicate Christianity.
Ledóchowski’s fight against communism would not end there. He suggested to Pope Pius xi in 1936 that the latter organize Catholics all over the world to engage in battle against communism. Using newly accessible documents from the Vatican, Chenaux shows how deeply involved Ledóchowski was in the publication of the Divini redemptoris encyclical. The encyclical, released in March 1937, condemned communism in no uncertain terms. Although Ledóchowski apparently wanted a reference to connections between Jews and communism, this was ultimately left out by the pope. To the superior general, there was no graver threat than communism to Christian civilization.
Overlapping in time with Ledóchowski’s tenure as superior general, Marisa Patulli Trythall’s article examines the work of Father Edmund Aloysius Walsh in his role as emissary for the Papal Famine Relief Mission to Russia (1922–23). Trythall’s work allows the reader to see how the Vatican viewed the Bolshevik Revolution in real time. Here again, we encounter Ledóchowski, writing to the Vatican secretary of state, offering advice for the thirteen missionaries being sent to Russia. Echoing Chenaux’s article, Trythall incorporates direct quotes from Ledóchowski’s memo where he baldly states that the Russian Revolution was caused by Jews seeking to destroy Christian civilization. Walsh’s travel diary also reveals his thinking when he notes the names of the leaders of the Bolshevik government, highlighting their Jewish surnames “to reveal their true nature.” In this, Trythall concludes that Walsh was a man of his time.