Vatican to release WW2 files including unanswered Jewish pleas for help to the Catholic church

Many of the thousands of pleas for help contained in the archives were from non-practising Jews, who'd been baptised Catholic and turned to the Vatican for help as levels of Nazi persecution grew.

Historian David Kertzer told The Times: “One can read hundreds of pages of these documents without finding a single case of a Jew helped by the Vatican....Those helped were overwhelmingly baptised Jews, while typically Jews requesting help were turned down."

Earlier this week, the Vatican's official paper dismissed the “worn-out view that Pius XII cared only about baptised Jews” as a "cliche."

The release of these documents to the public has reignited the fierce debate over the Vatican's legacy during the Holocaust.

Pius XII, who served as Pope from 1939-1958, never publically condemned the Holocaust, despite the Holy See having had sources who painted a reliable picture of the progress of the Final Solution through the war.

Pius had previously been the Vatican's ambassador to Germany and later oversaw the signing of a Concordat with Nazi Germany in 1933.

Pope Francis has previously stated that there has been “some prejudice and exaggeration” in the historical and public debate surrounding Pius XII’s legacy.