By JTA
German-born Pope Benedict XVI, who grew up during Hitler's rise to power, condemned the Nazi attempt to exterminate Jews on Wednesday as a "project of death" that will remain forever an indelible stain on human history.
Addressing pilgrims Wednesday in the Vatican, Benedict recalled biblical passages about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile of the Jews.
"It was almost a symbolic foretelling of the extermination camps that the Jewish people were subjected to as part of an infamous project of death, which remains an indelible shame on the history of humanity," he said.
The remarks were the strongest yet about the Nazi genocide by Benedict.