THE MORPHING OF A BOOK COVER
The photograph on the cover of the British edition
of John Corn-well's Hitler's Pope underwent a transformation in the
American edition.
The first cause for suspicion
is on the cover of Cornwell’s book. The dust jacket of the British
edition shows Nuncio Pacelli leaving a reception given for German
President Hindenburg in 1927. The photograph, a favorite of those who
seek to portray Pius XII in an unfavorable light, shows the nuncio dressed
in formal diplomatic regalia (which could easily be confused with papal
garments), as he exits a building. On each side of him stand soldiers of
the Weimar republic. In front of him stands a chauffeur saluting and
holding open the square-looking door, typical of automobiles from the
1920s. Those who do not recognize the differences in uniform details
could easily confuse the Weimar soldiers with Nazi soldiers because of
their distinctive helmets associated with Nazi-era German soldiers.
Use of this photograph, especially when coupled
with a provocative title such as “Hitler’s Pope,” gives the impression
that Pope Pius XII is seen leaving a meeting with Hitler. Making matters
even worse is the caption from inside the dust jacket on early British
editions of the book. This caption says that the photograph is from March
1939. By this time, Hitler was Chancellor of Germany, and this was the
month Pacelli was made Pope. A fair-minded person reading the caption
could easily conclude that Cardinal Pacelli paid a visit to Hitler
immediately prior to being elected Pope.
When I criticized Cornwell for his use of this
photograph in an exchange we had in Brill’s Content magazine (April
2000), he said only the worst form of apologist would criticize
photographic evidence. He also said that not everyone was so ignorant of
history as to associate the distinctive helmets with the Nazis. Frankly,
almost everyone to whom I have spoken did think that these were Nazi
soldiers. Of course, Cornwell made it virtually impossible to tell
otherwise.
The American version of Hitler’s Pope never
had the wrong date, but–given that the date might have been an honest
error–it is far more revealing about the intentional mis-information that
went into the marketing of this book. The U.S. edition uses the same
photograph as the British edition, but it is cropped to eliminate two
important points of reference: The soldier nearest the camera and the
square door of the automobile. Both of those images provide clues to the
true date of this photo (1927), and despite his claims in Brill’s
Content, Cornwell did not want that known. The photo also has been
significantly darkened, giving it a more sinister feel. Even more telling
is the intentional blurring of the background. Looking at this cover,
Nuncio Pacelli is in focus, but the soldier to his left and the chauffeur
are both badly blurred. They are so badly blurred that it is impossible
even for a well-trained observer to recognize that the soldier wears a
Weimar uniform rather than a Nazi uniform. The chauffeur, due to the
blurring and cropping that eliminates the car door, takes on the
appearance of a saluting SS officer. Even a civilian in the background
could seem to be a military (Nazi) official.
Since none of the images on the British edition are
blurred, and since Nuncio Pacelli’s face is in focus on the U.S. cover,
but the other images are blurred, the only logical conclusion is that the
photo was intentionally altered to support Cornwell’s thesis.
The following is a speculation as to how the photo may
have been modified.
First the image is cropped, so that the Weimar soldier on the left no
longer appears and it is no longer evident that Pacelli in about to enter a
vehicle. (This and the further modifications presented below were
done with Adobe Photoshop.)
A neutral coloration is added to the image...
...and the image is darkened to lend it a more dramatic, if not sinister, character.
In preparation to blur everything in the image except the figure of Pacelli,
a mask is created around Pacelli's figure, which
will protect it from the blurring operation --
An effect called Motion Blur is applied to the unmasked
portion of the image --
And this is the finished result. Could the Weimar soldier in the background now
be mistaken for an SS trooper?
Again, the cover of the American edition --
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