Sacred Betrayal: How the French Catholic Church Broke Its Pledge to Protect Jews During the Holocaust

A searing account of the French Catholic Church’s complicity in the Holocaust, revealing how the nation’s most influential bishops shaped the course of Nazi persecution through closed-door negotiations and hollow promises.

When German occupiers rolled into Paris in June 1940, they arrived wary of the French Catholic Church. In a country where more than 80 percent of citizens were Catholic, bishops held enormous moral sway. During the 1930s, many used their positions to forcefully condemn the...