Messages of highest praise by Jewish leaders for the rescue efforts of Pius XII should not be discounted. Neither should the research of reputable Jewish, Catholic, and other historians who witnessed the events of World War II, be ignored. Nor should the body of probative evidence of Pius XII's efforts on behalf of the Jewish victims found in the twelve volumes of the "Actes," containing more than 5,000 documents, describing the activities of the Vatican during World War II. Proof is also supported by the many news reports of that era; documents in the archives of governments that had diplomatic relations with the Vatican; and the testimony at the Nuremberg trials. Above all, one cannot discard the words of Father Pancrazio Pfeiffer, Rabbi Isaac Herzog, Nazi Lieutenant Nikolaus Kunkel, Cardinal Paolo Dezza, Theologian Israel Zolli, Historian Michael Tagliacozzo.
During the Nazi occupation of Rome, Father Pancrazio Pfeiffer, superior general of the Society of the Divine Savior, worked quietly and successfully with Pope Pius XII to save both Jews and Italians from imprisonment and death. In the city of Rome, streets near the Vatican have been named to honor both Pius XII and Father Pfeiffer. In fact, Nazi troops were housed on Via della Conciliazione, adjacent to the Salvatorian Fathers. The Pope asked Father Pfeiffer to work as a liaison between the Vatican and the German military command in order to get Jews and Italians released from Nazi prisons. Whenever major arrests were made, the pope and his secretary of state prepared a list of prisoners they wanted released, and forwarded it to Father Pfeiffer who, armed with papal authority, succeeded in saving so many lives. In Ascoli, Italy, the cathedral boasts of a mosaic depicting Pope Pius XII commissioning Father Pfeiffer to undertake the task of saving the city and getting the Germans to declare Rome an "open city' to prevent its destruction.
Father Robert Nugent tells the story of how Giuliano Vassalli-a prominent member of the Italian resistance-survived and later became a justice minister and constitutional court judge in Italy. "When Father Pfeiffer arrived at the prison, Vassalli was led to a room where he met him and Herbert Kappler, the SS commandant who was eventually tried and sentenced to death. Vassalli thought his parents had obtained permission for him to go to confession before his execution. 'If you are not to be stood up against a wall and shot, as you deserve, you owe it to the pope,' Kappler told Vassalli, who then realized he was being released to someone with a fine glowing expression on his face which was at the same time both strong and peaceful. It was Father Pfeiffer"
Jewish organizations took note of Pius XII's efforts, and they turned to him in times of need. Chief Isaac Rabbi Herzog wrote to Cardinal Maglione on behalf of Egyptian Jews expressing thanks for the Holy See's charitable work in Europe and asking for assistance for Jews being held prisoner in Italy. The following month he wrote back thanking Pius for his efforts on behalf of the refugees that "had awakened a feeling of gratitude in the hearts of millions of people."
On August 2, 1943, the Jewish Congress sent the following message to Pope Pius XII: "World Jewish Congress respectfully expresses gratitude to Your Holiness for your gracious concern for innocent peoples afflicted by the calamities of war and appeals to Your Holiness to use your high authority by suggesting Italian authorities may remove as speedily as possible to Southern Italy or other safer areas twenty thousand Jewish refugees and Italian nationals now concentrated in internment camps... and so prevent their deportation and similar tragic fate which has befallen Jews in Eastern Europe. Our terror-stricken brethren look to Your Holiness as the only hope for saving them from persecution and death."1
In September, a representative from the World Jewish Congress reported to the Pope that approximately four thousand Jews and Yugoslav nationals who had been in interment camps were removed to an area that was under the control of Yugoslav partisans. As such, they were out of immediate danger. The report went on to say: "I feel sure that the efforts of your Grace and the Holy See have brought about this fortunate result, and I should like to express to the Holy See and yourself the warmest thanks of the World Jewish Congress. The Jews concerned will probably not yet know by what agency their removal from danger has been secured, but when they do they will be indeed grateful."
Two months later, Rabbi Herzog again wrote to Pope Pius XII expressing his "sincere gratitude and deep appreciation for so kind an attitude toward Israel and for such valuable assistance given by the Catholic Church to the endangered Jewish people." Jewish communities in Chile, Uruguay, and Bolivia also sent similar offers of thanks to the Pope.
On January 24, 2001 L'Osservatore Romano carried the testimony of a witness to Pius XII's actions to save Roman Jews during the Second World War. In an interview with German Catholic News Agency (KNA), Nikolaus Kunkel, a lieutenant at the headquarters of the military governor of Rome in 1943, directly witnessed the SS roundup of the Jews. He remembers those dramatic days, when the SS wanted to take advantage of the transition of power from Mussolini to Badoglio to carry out "the final solution to the Jewish question."2
The SS unit's task was to deport all the Jews in Rome. According to Kunkel, "when the rumor of the raid proved to be true, Major General Rainer Stahel summoned and informed the officers of divisions 1A, 1B and 1C saying that he was totally opposed to the operation."
Roman Jews were rounded up on October 16, 1943. That same day the rector of Santa Maria dell'Anima, Bishop Alois Hudal, and Father Pancrazio Pfeiffer called on General Stahel informing him that the Pope would turn to world public opinion if the roundup was not immediately stopped. The next day the order came from SS Chief Heinrich Himmler to stop.
Kunkel recalled that "most Roman Jews had got wind of the imminent SS action because of delays in the preparations and so many of them were saved. ...We considered it a success that only 1,000 of the 8,000 or 9,000 or so Jews were arrested by the SS. Today, of course, one looks above all at the 1,000 victims... . By the way, a few days after the roundup and despite his poor health, General Stahel-a Catholic-was transferred to the Eastern front."
Again during an interview3 with the German News agency KNA, Kunkel confirmed that the Vatican played a decisive role in stopping the Nazi roundup of Rome's Jews. He reiterated that, having been informed of a papal protest in favor of the Jews, General Stahel immediately contacted SS Chief Heinrich Himmler who ordered SS Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Kappler, chief of the German security police in Rome to end further roundups.4
In the June 26, 1981 issue of the Osservatore della Domenica, Cardinal Paolo Dezza, S.J., summarized a very confidential report of an audience with Pope Pius XII. Referring to a retreat he gave for the Holy Father in the Vatican during the month of December 1942, he stated: "On that occasion I had a long audience in which Pius XII, speaking about the Nazi atrocities in Germany and in the other occupied countries, manifested his sorrow, his anguish. He said: 'They lament that the Pope does not speak. But the Pope cannot speak. If he were to speak, things would be worse.' And he reminded me that he had recently sent three letters in which he deplored the Nazi atrocities: one to the person he defined as 'the heroic Archbishop of Cracow,' the future Cardinal Sapieha, and the others to two bishops in Poland. 'They responded,' he said, 'thanking me, but telling me that they could not publish those letters because it would aggravate the situation.' And he cited the example of Pius X who, when confronted with a problem in Russia, said: 'You must keep silence in order to avoid worse evils.'
"And even on this occasion, the inaccuracy of those who say that he kept silence because he wanted to support the Nazis against the Russians and Communism appears very clear. I recall that he told me: 'Yes, the danger of Communism exists; however, at this moment the danger of Nazism is greater.' And he spoke to me about what the Nazis would do if they were victorious. I remember he used the phrase: 'They want to destroy the Church and crush her like a toad. For the Pope there will be no place in the new Europe. They say that he should go to America. But I am not afraid and I shall remain here.' And he said this in a very firm and sure manner that one could clearly understand that if the Pope kept silence, it was not for fear or personal interest, but only just for fear of aggravating the situation of the oppressed. While speaking to me about the threats of invasion of the Vatican, he was absolutely tranquil, certain, trusting in Providence. Speaking to me about speaking out, he was full of anguish. 'If I speak,' he felt, 'I shall harm them.'
"Therefore, even if historically one could discuss whether it would have been better to speak more or speak more strongly, what is beyond discussion is that if Pope Pius XII did not speak more strongly it was purely for this reason, not for fear or any other interest.
"The other part of the conversation that impressed me was that he spoke about all he had done and was doing to help the oppressed. I recall that he spoke about the first steps he attempted to make, in agreement with the German cardinals, but with no results; then about the conversations he had with Ribbentrop when he came to Rome, but with no results. At any rate he continued to do whatever he could. His one preoccupation was to avoid entering into political or military questions and to remain within the sphere of that which was the duty of the Holy See. In this regard, I recall that when the Germans occupied Rome in 1943 (I was rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University and it was I who accepted the refugees), Pius XII said to me: 'Father, avoid accepting the military because, since the Gregoriana is a pontifical house and belongs to the Holy See, we must be out of politics. But for the others, help them willingly: poor, persecuted Jews.' "5
In 1964, a special enlarged edition of the Vatican's weekly publication of L'Osservatore della Domenica, entitled The Pope, Yesterday and Today, defended Pius XII. These testimonials were by contemporary historians, poets, literary and religious writers and others of international stature.6
An important witness to the role of Pius XII in wartime Italy is Rabbi Israel Zolli, Chief Rabbi of Rome during the Nazi occupation and persecution of Jews. A biblical scholar whose courage and integrity cannot be challenged, Rabbi Zolli was hidden in the Vatican. He was an eye-witness of the deportation of Rome's Jews by the Gestapo in 1943. In his book, Antisemitismo, he states: "World Jewry owes a great debt of gratitude to Pius XII for his repeated and pressing appeals for justice on behalf of the Jews and, when these did not prevail, for his strong protests against evil laws and procedures." Zolli, who found shelter in the Vatican during the war also stated: "No hero in all of history was more militant, more fought against, none more heroic than Pius XII in pursuing the work of true charity!...and this on behalf of all the suffering children of God."
Zolli devoted an entire chapter in his 1954 memoirs, Before the Dawn. Writing about the German occupation of Rome, he praised the Pope's leadership: "...The people of Rome loathed the Nazis and had intense pity for the Jews. They willingly assisted in the evacuation of the Jewish population into remote villages, where they were protected by Christian families. ... The Holy Father sent by hand a letter to the bishops instructing them to lift the enclosure from convents and monasteries, so that they could hide the Jews. I know of one convent where the sisters slept in the basement, giving up their beds to Jewish refugees. In face of this charity, the fate of so many of the persecuted is especially tragic."
Testimonials of survivors of the Holocaust also make it perfectly clear that the Pope was not anti-Semitic or indifferent to the fate of the Jews and that he did everything possible to help them. In a letter to me, dated June 18, 1997, historian and Holocaust survivor, Michael Tagliacozzo, clearly expressed his sentiments: "In my study of the conditions of the Jews (The Roman Community during the Nightmare of the Swastika, November 1963), I pointed out the generous and vast activity of the Church in favor of the victims. I learned how great was Pope Pacelli's paternal solicitude. No honest person can discount his merits .... Pacelli was the only one who intervened to impede the deportation of Jews on October 16, 1943, and he did very much to hide and save thousands of us. It was no small matter that he ordered the opening of cloistered convents. Without him, many of our own would not be alive."
Again, years later, in a letter of August 8, 2004, he reiterated his convictions: "Any apology on the actions of Pius XII must be considered superfluous. This is clear to all men of good will and is entrusted above all to the memory of those Jews, now living, who have not forgotten the efforts and solicitude of Pope Pacelli.... One must add the countless expressions of gratitude of those whose lives were saved in the religious houses in Rome, Assisi and elsewhere. Even if gratitude was expressed directly to the Institutions who protected them, the merit goes to Pope Pacelli who, on October 16, 1943, gave orders to open the doors of the parishes, convents and monasteries to save the Jews from deportation."
Those who continue to malign Pius XII and the Church, also offend the Jews who have testified that they were 'hidden and saved" by the Vatican during World War II. These Jews, who survived in Rome as a result of Pius XII's directives, have left us testimonials, interviews, and public acknowledgments toward the Pope, the Catholic Church and its religious organizations.
When he was elected on March 2, 1939, Pope Pius XII had the advantage of his knowledge of Germany, the German language, and the German people in his evaluation of the world situation. His words and actions bear testimony to his human qualities: he was a careful diplomat. The major consideration that he expressed repeatedly in his messages to the Nuncios was to save lives. Albrecht von Kessel-aide-de-camp to Baron von Weizsäcker, the German Ambassador-stated: "...The members of the German Embassy at the Vatican were at one in assessing the situation. A flaming protest on the part of Pius XII against the persecution of the Jews would presumably have put him and with him the Curia into extreme danger but would certainly ...not have saved the life of a single Jew. Hitler, the animal of prey at bay, would react all the more cruelly the more resistance he met."
Marc Saperstein, professor of Jewish history and director of the program in Judaic studies at George Washington University, clearly stated in an article, "A Medieval and a Modern Pope" (The Washington Post, April 1, 1998): "The suggestion that Christian doctrines or practice led directly to the Nazi death camps is misleading and inappropriate. ... There were limits to the capacity of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church to prevent a world power with military domination over a continent, from murdering the civilians it defined as its enemies. The fundamental responsibility for the Holocaust lies with the Nazi perpetrators. Not with Pope Pius XII. Not with the church. Not with the teachings of the Christian faith."