This is interesting and somewhat disturbing. Lead pope candidate Joseph Ratzinger from Germany was a member of Hitler Youth and apparently went on to be a
Nazi anti-aircraft gunner guarding a concentration camp.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger -- a favorite to become the next pontiff -- joined the Nazi children's corps in 1941 as a 14-year-old and was later an anti-aircraft gunner.
At one point, he guarded a factory where slaves from a concentration camp were forced to work. He was later shipped to Hungary, where he reportedly saw Jews persecuted.
Okey dokey. Sounds like Bush's guy all right.
FuturePope's apology on the flip...
Ratzinger, a staunch conservative dubbed "God's Rottweiler," has said he joined the Hitler Youth when membership became compulsory. He and his brother were later drafted but deserted. The cardinal claims he never fired a shot and that resistance would have meant death.
Not so, Germans from his hometown of Traunstein told The Times of London.
"It was possible to resist, and those people set an example for others," recalled Elizabeth Lohner, 84. "The Ratzingers were young — and they had made a different choice."