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Photograph:Pope Pius XII, Time magazine cover, August 16, 1943.

Part IV: The Church Debate

The reign of Pope Pius XII (1939–58) was one of the most controversial in papal history. Deemed a “saint of God” by his admirers, Pius has been criticized by others for his alleged “public silence” in the face of the Nazi genocide. But was he really “silent”? Britannica explores this issue as well as the actions of the pro-Hitler “German Christians,” the anti-Hitler “Confessing Church,” and various anti-Nazi theologians.

Part IV: The Holocaust—The Christian Response

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The first great African American professional blues vocalist, Ma Rainey, was born this day in 1886 in Georgia and contributed greatly to the evolution and popularity of the blues form in the early 20th century.

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A devastating environmental catastrophe occurred early this morning in 1986 when an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere.
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On This Day in 1986: An explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere.

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Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew

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He �was not of an age, but for all time.� The aptness of Ben Jonson�s famous assessment of Shakespeare is made plain in Shakespeare: The Essential Guide to the Life and Works of the Bard, published by Encyclopaedia Britannica in conjunction with John Wiley & Sons. There are summaries of every play, assessments of characters, and special essays from the world�s foremost scholars of Shakespeare, all of them contributors to Britannica�s extensive coverage of the Bard.

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Auschwitz

Why didn�t the Allied countries of World War II bomb Nazi Germany�s concentration camps? What did they actually know about the camps? Historian Michael Berenbaum , who authored a significant amount of Britannica�s coverage of the Holocaust, is coeditor of this engaging volume--The Bombing of Auschwitz: Should the Allies Have Attempted It?--that asks and answers these very questions.

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Michael Berenbaum

Part IV: The Church Debate

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What causes the blood disease thalassemia?

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