Deltanine

 The Germans are outraged that the English keep bringing up the Pope's Nazi history, and headlines such as "From Hitler Youth to... Papa Ratzi."



A Bild editorial written by senior journalist Franz Josef Wagner said: "If you read the British tabloids yesterday, you would have thought Hitler had become pope.


"Only the devil could come up with such a thing. Or you English, with your complexes.

"It is like in football matches, we are always the Nazis."


The editorial added: "I do not hate in return. The pope in his goodness will include you idiots in his prayers. Yes you, the editors of The Sun and the Daily Mirror. Even idiots go to heaven."


 A common thread I have heard from Pope sympathizers is that he deserted. They make it sound like Joseph Ratzinger didn't really like being a Nazi, and deserted even though he could have been summarily eexecuted if he'd been caught. Few make mention of how long he served, implying he did it soon after joining. That slant is however disingenuous.


After joining the Hitler Youth in 1941 he didn't actually desert until May 1945. Which is, really, a bit late. Most of Germany was overrun well before May 1945, and in fact by 8th May Germany surrendered. Hilter killed himself in April, so you could say that Hitler deserted before the future pope.