Ya Bass

I don't think anyone can say for certain that Joseph Ratzinge or Pope Benedict XVI was an enthusiastic Nazi or anything close. What he did was similiar to what millions of other Germans (and lets not forget other Europeans) were to do during the period.

However, as far as I know, he has not commented on his time in the Hitler Youth, his service at the anti-aircraft battery guarding a factory staffed by slave labour except to say he was forced and never fired a shot because his dog ate his Luger or that he had a sore finger (to give this some perspective - only about 20% of soldiers involved in frontline battles during world war 2 actually fired their guns so not firing a shot was not unusual). But did he actually do anything for his supposed opposition to the Nazis? Did he resist on behalf of the Jews and the Poles and the Russians getting worked to death inside the place he was guarding? No.

There are of course very valid reasons why he didn't do anything positive to resist -indeed as i mentioned early his situation was little different to what many other Germans faced - they were never enthusiastic Nazis, but were governed by fear and could have faced terrible consequences had they had resisted actively. So they didn't do anything and just kept their head down. Of course they could still have followed the example of others and resisted but they didn't, however on the other hand they were not supportive of the Nazis either. That's a huge grey area of people not directly guilty of the worst Nazi crimes - but then not quite innocent either.

You would think that Ratzinger given his life experience, being brought up in a fascist state, being "forced" to join the Hitler Youth, being "forced" to man an anti-aircraft gun (etc) would demonstrate to him the fact that in many cases morality is not an absolute and that people's moral actions are shaped by the options available to them and their social circumstances and the historical position they find themselves in.

But according to Ratzinger himself such relativism and it's shades of grey between two absolutes is one of the greatest evils on the planet. So going on that basis and the logic with which he judges others on: Ratzinger didn't resist, he didn't do anything to prevent slave labour being worked to death in the BMW factory he was stationed at, so then does that mean he is complicit in the worst crimes of the Nazis and any shade of grey or extenuating circumstances should be dismissed?
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