With his first book, Hitler’s Willing Executioners, Daniel Jonah
Goldhagen dramatically revised our understanding of the role
ordinary Germans played in the Holocaust. Now he brings his
formidable powers of research and argument to bear on the
Catholic Church and its complicity in the destruction of
European Jewry. What emerges is a work that goes far beyond the
familiar inquiries—most of which focus solely on Pope Pius
XII—to address an entire history of hatred and persecution that
culminated, in some cases, in an active participation in mass-
murder. More than a chronicle, A Moral Reckoning is also an
assessment of culpability and a bold attempt at defining what
actions the Church must take to repair the harm it did to
Jews—and to repair itself. Impressive in its scholarship,
rigorous in its ethical focus, the result is a book of lasting
importance. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen was awarded Germany’s
Democracy Prize for Hitler’s Willing Executioners. Until
deciding to devote himself full-time to writing, Daniel Jon