Renowned Holocaust Scholar Joins Seton Hill’s Genocide and Holocaust Studies Program

Last fall, Dr. Michael Phayer taught an online course at Seton Hill University (SHU) titled “Special Topics: Nazism, Communism and the Vatican.”

 “Dr. Phayer was overwhelmingly recommended by members of the Genocide and Holocaust Studies advisory board. He has extremely impressive credentials… It was timely that he began teaching in our program soon after the publication of his most recent book, "Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War" (2007),” said Dr. Terrence DePasquale, Dean of Graduate and International Programs.

From teaching courses on the Holocaust, Phayer has learned “about humanity. In this instance one learns how potential victims react to their predicament, what motivates rescuers, and what leads perpetrators to do evil deeds.”

 Phayer says it was a performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank” that sparked his interest in the Holocaust.

“I saw one of the earliest presentations…Holocaust studies did not exist at that time, but I never
forgot the play,” said Phayer. He has since become one of the top Holocaust scholars.

Although Phayer has written a book about women and the Holocaust (Cries in the Night, co-authored with Eva Fleischner), his main area of study concerns the Catholic Church. His work The Catholic Church in the Holocaust, 1930-1965 concerns the controversy surrounding Pope Pius XII. An excerpt:

“Diplomacy functions within the boundaries of civilized behavior. The Holocaust ruptured those bounds beyond all measure. Hitler did not know or care to know the language of diplomacy. Pius XII’s greatest failure, both during and after the Holocaust, lay in his attempt to use a diplomatic remedy for a moral outrage” (xii)

Dr. James Paharik, associate professor of sociology, said “Phayer has shown that while the Vatican avoided directly challenging Hitler in public, behind the scenes it was working to rescue Jews. Of course, when we look back on any act of genocide, it seems that more could have been done to stop it. Religious people, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim, would seem to have a special obligation to act in accordance with the precepts of their faith to oppose such desecrations of the sanctity of life. Without making prejudgments, Phayer carefully examines...the actions of church leaders within the context of the time. He reveals that they were concerned not only with Nazism but with Communism, which they actually viewed as a greater threat.”

Phayer said that his upcoming book “deals extensively with the "ratline" operated by the
Vatican which allowed war criminals to escape to South America. This was
indeed shocking.”

Dr. Phayer’s next course at SHU is “Children and the Holocaust", offered Session 4 in 2010.

Phayer is a historian and professor emeritus at Marquette University, is the Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Scholar of Holocaust Studies at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and has published numerous research articles and books relating to Nazi Germany, the Holocaust and the Catholic Church.