Pope Pius XII's role and actions have been misinterpreted. The bias against him seems to have become an accepted historical fact. John Cornwell's book has been widely cited as an authentic witness against the Pope. Yet, Cornwell has deliberately twisted the facts and does not understand Vatican policy. A contemporary Jewish historian who has examined the history of the papacy during this period and contributed important studies is Sir Martin Gilbert. Others are Anthony Rhodes, The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators (1973), Sir Owen Chadwick, Britain and the Vatican during the Second World War (1986), Il Vaticano nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale, by Giorgio Angelozzi Gariboldi (1992).

After 1939 it was impossible for the Papal message to be heard or read in Germany. Mussolini repeatedly threatened to close Vatican radio's transmitters on the grounds that critical statements about Italy's allies were in breach of the Lateran Treaty. Knowing this, the Vatican radio messages had to be very carefully worded. After the distribution of Mit brennender Sorge, the Nazis determined to prevent Papal messages from being read or heard. Meanwhile the Vatican gave every possible support and assistance to Bishops (later Cardinals) von Preysing and von Galen, both implacable enemies of the Nazis who spoke out courageously. Indeed, it was Galen's writings that inspired the White Rose movement which repeatedly denounced the anti-Semitism of the regime. Pius XII's correspondence with the German bishops fills one of the twelve volumes of Actes et Documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.

Pope Pius XII used every means to save Jewish lives (false baptismal certificates, distributing visas for Jews to enter other countries, opening doors of convents and monasteries to hide Jews and other victims of the Nazis and Fascists. The consequences of the actions of the Dutch bishops by reading the Pope's message were devastating for Dutch Jews and Jewish born converts and their descendants. The Pope knew that similar statements from Rome would have even more devastating results. Would any more lives have been saved had Pius XII given the Germans an excuse to destroy altogether any possibility of the Pope continuing his quiet diplomacy and actions?

Condemnations of Pius XII undermine the historical record of the terrible suffering endured by the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis. To the contrary, there are innumerable expressions of gratitude by Jews who thanked and honored Pope Pius XII that would fill an entire volume. Why has much of the following sampling been ignored?

One article is entitled "Testimonial of Gratitude to the Pontiff" (Israel, XXXII, No. 13, January 9, 1947). It stated that the Associazione fra i Romani had taken "the initiative to manifest the gratitude of the people of Rome toward the Pontiff for the material and moral assistance and for all the work done to protect the Jews. The Associazione will place a plaque in the Basilica of San Lorenzo Outside the Walls in memory of the Pope's visits to this area destroyed by Allied bombings on July 19 and August 13, 1943. There will also be a mometary gift for charitable works toward the needy in Rome. Those who wish to show their appreciation for the protection and assistance received during this anti-Jewish persecution may join the General Committee, the Catholic Leaders, the Grand Rabbi of Rome Professor Prato, and the President of the Community Vitale Milano. Jews who wish to participate in this Testimonial should send their name and donation to the Office of the Rabbi or to the Secretariat of the Community. Names of participants and their donation will be placed in an album and offered to the Pontiff."

Michael Tagliacozzo, a Jewish historian responsible for Beth Lohame Haghettaot Center in Italy, praised Pope Pius XII's wartime efforts. He recently provided the following information from "Hashavua," the magazine of "Beth Alpha," No. 178/42.

Maurizio Zarfati, a resident in Acco, Hativath Golani St., 25/21 wrote December 7, 1994, that he was saved with his parents, brother and sister in the monastery of the Augustinian Oblates of Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori in via Garibaldi. To permit men to enter, the Holy Father exempted them from rules of cloister. The Sisters gave up their rooms and moved to restricted quarters.... There were 103 Jews in that convent.

Soldier Eliyahu Lubisky, a member of the "Kibuz Beth Alpha," wrote on August 4, 1944, in the weekly "Hashavua," N. 178/42, that "he found more than 10,000 Jews in Rome. The refugees praised the Vatican for their help. Priests endangered their lives to save the Jews. The Pope himself participated in this work of saving Jews."

Regarding the German occupation of Rome, Michael Tagliacozzo's letter to the daily newspaper "Davàr" (Tel Aviv, April 23, 1985), states: "Little known is the precious help of the Holy See. On the recommendation of Pius XII the religious of every order did their best to save Jews. In great numbers, especially the elderly, women and children were welcomed in the convents that opened their doors offering refuge and assistance. Children in orphanges were sent to monasteries. Even in the Vatican, almost under the Pope's windows, Jews found refuge hiding from the clutches of the Gestapo. The figures show that about five thousand were hiding in ecclesiastical institutions (4238 in convents, parishes and other institutions, while 477 were living in the extraterritorial buildings protected by the Holy See)."

There is a Report of the Union of the Italian Jewish Community to the Italian Government of August 1, 1944, sent to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, to the Minstry of the Interior, and to the Prefecture of Rome: "...Great was the assistance Jews received from the Vatican and from the various ecclesiastical authorities who, inspired by the spirit of charity, dedicated themselves toward lessening our sorrows and protecting us from our persecutors.... Palestine's Grand Rabbi Herzog sent the Pope a telegram of condolence on the death of Cardinal Luigi Maglione acknowledging the humanitarian work accomplished by the deceased on behalf of the persecuted Jews (Numbers 8-10, September 18, 1944)." Another Report of the Jewish Community of Rome to the Union of the Italian Jewish Community is dated August 10, 1944: "...Gratitude, as we all well know, must be expressed in an extraordinary and sincere way to the Catholic Church and to its august Leader, His Holiness Pius XII. Together with the Jewish Community in Rome, I sent him the expression of the most intense gratitude of our entire population (Number 15, October 20, 1944) ." The above excerpts were printed in the Bollettino Ebraico d'Informazione (Zionist Group of Rome).

In the daily newspaper Hatzofe (the organ of the National Religious Party MAFDAL), on June 22 1979, Historian Michael Tagliacozzo reviewed Meir Michaelis' book, Mussolini and the Jews, German-Italian Relations and the Jewish Question in Italy 1922-1945, published by The Institute of Jewish Affairs, London (The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1978). This reviewer credited the saving of Jews to the "spontaneous help given to Jews by the Italians and the Catholic institutions in Rome. Regarding the controversial question of the "silence" of Pius XII and the Vatican, this volume enlightens us on the precious help given by the Holy See on behalf of the Jews of Rome. At the direction of the Pontiff himself, the clergy where did its best to save the Jews so much so that a large number of the persecuted - particularly the elderly, women and children - were welcomed in the convents that opened their doors to the victims offering refuge and assistance...."

Y. Bankover "Hamèsh Shanìm", in Diario di un soldato ebreo, pp. 315-316 (Published and edited by the General Confederation of Jewish Workers in Palestine. Ed. Hakibbuz ha-meuchad, Tel Avviv 5705-1945) writes: "...In the midst of the general destruction that characterized the war zones, Rome remained intact. 'A miracle took place here': thousands of Jews were safe and sound. The Church, the religious houses, monks, sisters and above all the Pontiff, have worked in an extraordinary way to save Jews from the clutches of the Nazis and their collaborators, the Italian Fascists. While endangering their own lives, they succeeded with great efforts in hiding and feeding the Jews during the German occupation of Rome. Some religious paid the price with their lives to accomplish this (Don Pietro Pappagallo and Don Giuseppe Morosini). The entire Church participated with devotion in this effort. Not less important and decisive in saving lives was the help given by the population of Rome. The citizens generally hid Jews in their homes, feeding them with the little food they had. Every Jewish family that returned home after the Germans left, found their own house in order and, thanks to the Christian citizens, notwithstanding the dangers encountered, who guarded the homes of the Jews under the very eyes of the Gestapo."

The following communication is from Captain Efraim Urbach, Rabbi-Chaplain of the 8th British Army to Dr. Leo Cohen, director general of the political department of the Jewish Agency, Jerusalem, Rome, 6/6/1944: "With this letter I send you the first summary on the conditions of the Jews of Rome, as I have witnessed after my one day visit....Persons of the Church have helped Jews and hid women and children, within the limits that were possible." Rome, 7/6/1944 "Following up on what I already communicated with my preceding letter, I now give you some particulars.... This work of assistance must be attributed to the Persons of the Church. In a special way German Father Weber of the Pallottine Fathers and Cappuchin Father Benedetto distinguished themselves. Many Jews were hidden in convents." (From the Zionist Central Archives, Jerusalem - Pos. 525/5279.)

Sergeant Yechiel Duvdevano-PAL 31621, Comp. 745 Artisan Work and member of the Kibuz Naan-was among the most influential heads of the Zionist Movement and of the Organization of defense "Hagana". In the years 1943-1945 he coordinated the assistance given to Jews in the Italian regions that were liberated." Rome, 8/6/1944 "...Jews remained hidden, with Christian names, for 9 months, in cellars and in catacombs. Many found refuge in convents; especially children....The Germans promised a reward for every Jew that was captured and persented to them....The main help came from the Church...."

Michael Tagliacozzo, a Jewish historian responsible for Beth Lohame Haghettaot Center in Italy, praised Pope Pius XII's wartime efforts. He recently provided information from "Hashavua," the magazine of "Beth Alpha," No. 178/42.

Chief Rabbi Alexander Safran, of Bucharest, Rumania, made the fol-lowing statement on April 7, 1944, to papal nuncio Andrea Cassulo: "In the most difficult hours which we Jews of Rumania have passed through, the generous assistance of the Holy See. . . was decisive and salutary. It is not easy for us to find the right words to express the warmth and consolation we experienced because of the concern of the supreme pontiff, who offered a large sum to relieve the sufferings of deported Jews. .. . The Jews of Romania will never forget these facts of historic importance."After the war, the Communists in Russia began calumniating Pius XII in their paper, Izvestia. Msgr. Fulton Sheen responded in the New York Times. I tell that story in one of my books.

Jewish organizations acknowledged 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."

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.

More dramatic evidence has surfaced in an article by Marco Tosatti (La Stampa, August 8, 2006) that reaffirms what has long been known but denied by Pius' critics: the Pope ordered religious convents and monasteries to open their doors to shelter political fugitives and Jews during World War II. It concerns measures taken by Pope Pius XII to save all victims of the Nazis. This newly-discovered Holocaust diary reveals the drastic steps taken by the Pope and the Catholic Church to save the lives of Jews and others being hunted down by the Nazis. It is an unpublished Journal of an Augustinian nun in the convent of Santi Quattro Coronati in Rome and will be published by the magazine 30Days.

According to the Journal, Pius XII instructed the mother superior to allow those fleeing from the Germans to enter the cloistered convent and remain as long as necessary. Not only does the Augustinian author provide details, but she explains that the pope wished to save "the children as well as Jews" and ordered that monasteries and enclosures should be opened to protect those persecuted. She admits she prepared false identity papers for all her guests. "Unfortunately," the nun writes, "with the coming of the Germans in September, the war against the Jews-whom they wish to exterminate with the most barbarous atrocities-included young Italians and political activists who were tortured and subjected to the most horrible sufferings....We adhered to the wishes of the Holy Father. "

Allied troops entered Rome on June 6, 1944. In fact, the Journal includes names and dates from September 1942 to June 1944. The Nun writes with meticulous care, listing exactly the persons and their belongings, and specifies the precise places in the convent occupied by these guests. She writes: "From November 4 to 14, Mrs. Bambas, wife of a political personality.... From December 7 to January 23, Jewish Rabbi from Ravenna, in the "pallotti." From December 15 to January 18, the Jews, Mr. Viterbo and his mother-in-law, slept here." The list continues: "Mrs. Dora, a Jew, occupied the parlor from January 1 to 21. Alfredo Sermoneta (Jew) in the "pallotti" from January 5 to May 9. Eugenio Sermoneta (Jew) in the "pallotti" from February 2 to June 5. Also, from February 2 to June 5, the politician, Fernando Pisoli, was in the "pallotti." Fernando Talarico an officer in the military remained from February 2 to May 9. The young sons of General Caracciolo were guests: Francesco from December 13 to June 6 and his brother Alberto from December 15 to June 6. Also Piero DeBenedetti from March 8 to May 7." Such precise details persuade the reader of the factual nature of the entries.

Besides listing the guests, the Augustinian Nun presents some interesting details, both humorous and senitive, as she names the items and treasures that they sought to protect: "At the same time we hid tons of Febriano paper in the refectory. For this we were subjected to lengthy questioning by the owners' relatives. In a large locale adjacent to the garden, we hid eleven automobiles, including that of General Badoglio, and two trucks belonging to General Tessari brought here by the military soon after September 8, 1943. Among other hidden items were a trailer truck, Captain Trappani's motocycle, one tricycle, and ten bicycles. From the Gianni farm, we hid seven horses, four cows, four oxen, as well as all their farm machinery and means of transportation. The cloister, closed to visitors so that the refugees could walk, was stacked with straw and hay, as well as furniture, clothing and other valuable possessions of the displaced families.

The Journal tells the story of Amalia Viterbo, the Jewish niece of Palmiro Togliatti, one of the creators of the Italian Communist Party and secretary of the communist party before the Second World War. Amalia was eight years old. She relates in her memoirs that after the Liberation, she had the pleasure of seeing her aunt Rita Montagnana (her grandmother's sister) and her husband, Palmiro Togliatti. They were living in Rome after having spent many years in the Soviet Union. "Rita and Palmiro came to see us several times and we went to their home....Palmiro had a very compassionate aspect. Initially he appeared cold and indifferent; instead, especially with us children, he was playful, took us in his arms and told us fairy tales and stories about his own life." He also testified about the ability of these nuns. "In the beginning of our stay in the convent, our identification cards still had the words 'of Jewish heritage'. When the SS no longer respected the inviolability of the monastery, the mother superior of the cloister, Sister Marta Rita, took the initiative and gave us false identity cards provided by the courageous Signor Ampio, a police sergeant. Our grandparents took the family name Mancini; we took DeSanctis, born in Naples and residing at Promenade Caracciolo."

Personally and through his representatives, Pius XII employed all the means at his disposal to save Jews and other refugees during World War II. As a moral leader and a diplomat forced to limit his words, he privately took action and, despite insurmountable obstacles, saved hundreds of thousands of Jews from the gas chambers.