Pope's Nazi past

Benedict XVI former Hitler Youth member

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Pope's past
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Keith Olbermann

Anchor, 'Countdown'

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updated 5:46 p.m. ET April 20, 2005

As John Paul II's right hand man, in charge of enforcing the conservative papal policy, Cardinal Ratzinger earned an unfortunate nickname from his more progressive peers: the "Panzer Cardinal". Like the tank. Pope Benedict XVI, now 78, had his own brush with warfare as a young boy growing up in Nazi Germany.

At age, 14 membership in Germany's "Hitler Youth" became mandatory. So Joseph Ratzinger enrolled
He managed to get out early so he could study for the priesthood.
Two years later, when he was 16, Ratzinger was drafted again by the German Army.
Ratzinger worked as a helper in an anti-aircraft briagde.
In 1945, he was put through basic training and stationed near his hometown in Bavaria.
When Allied forces advanced, he deserted the German army — risking death by that act alone.
After he escaped, Ratzinger was captured by American soldiers and spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp.

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