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AP Photo JRL106, JRL104, JRL107, JRL833, JRL819 JERUSALEM (AP) The Vatican has defended Pope Benedict XVI amid growing Israeli criticism of his speech at the country's national Holocaust memorial.

Israeli critics have complained the German-born pope failed to explicitly mention Nazis or Germans in Monday's speech. They say he also didn't mention his past as a Hitler Youth movement member.

The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters Tuesday that the pope "can't mention everything every time he speaks." The spokesman claimed Benedict was never in the Hitler Youth.

However, the pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, said in a 1997 book he was forced into the movement.

The pope pledged to remember the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust upon arriving in Israel on Monday.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 05-12-09 0648CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list