Benedict and Nazi Germany

Rumors have been flying around that the new Pope is some sort of Nazi. In a word, nope. Ratzinger joined the Hitler Youth in 1941 when he was required to after he turned 14. He wasn't very happy about it and was as inactive as possible. He evidentally spent most of his time in the Hitler Youth actually going to seminary. Once out of Seminary he refused to take any part of it.

Now this isn't stopping some people from criticizing him:

If the Church were going to select a Nazi-era German as pope, would it have been too much to hope that the Church would select a man who fought the evil of Nazism in some way, rather than a man who just muddled through it...

Referring to Ratzinger even as a "Nazi-era German" is a bit of an overstatement. Benedict was 12 when Hitler invaded Poland. The war in Europe was over about a month after he turned 18. What do you expect him to do? Shoot a member of the frickin' Gestapo with his slingshot? Yes John-Paul II covertly subverted Nazi rule in Poland, but he was also eight years older than Ratzinger and an adult at the time.