The Pope at War, page 72
By this time, Babuscio had finally made contact with the Badoglio government. His report on January 18 tells of the struggle he was having with the republican government and his decision to keep the Italian embassy to the Holy See in Rome rather than to try to move it with him into Vatican City. January 18, 1944, n. 5/5, ASDMAE, APSS, b. 72.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 10
Bosworth 2017, p. 190.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 11
Chessa and Raggi 2010, p. 5.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 12
OSS Official Dispatch, via radiophone, Bern, “Italy: Countess Ciano’s story,” January 29, 1944, FDR Library, mr 438, p. 220.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 13
Mussolini to Petacci, February 4, 1944, Montevecchi 2011, p. 32. The pope had received a similar account of Mussolini’s state of mind at the time through the report of remarks Mussolini had recently made to Umberto Guglielmotti, newly appointed director of the Giornale d’Italia newspaper. Monsignor Enrico Pucci, semiofficial director of Vatican international news services, had sent them directly to the pope, describing Guglielmotti as “my friend.” “Unfortunately,” Mussolini said, “Italy today is an occupied country and the Germans are the occupiers….An occupied country, albeit occupied for good reason, but occupied. I myself am limited in what I can do. My own movements are controlled. Even if I need to phone someone, I am forced to pass through the German operator.” Pucci to Pius XII, January 13, 1944, ASRS, AA.EE.SS., Pio XII, parte I, Italia, posiz. 1352a, ff. 24r–25r.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 14
Mussolini to Clara Petacci, February 26, 1944, Chessa and Raggi 2010, p. 79; Montecchi 2011, p. 110; Clara Petacci to Mussolini, February 26, 1944, ACS, Archivi di famiglie e di persone, Clara Petacci, b. 3, fasc. 23.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 15
Bernardini note, March 1944, AAV, Arch. Nunz. Svizzera, b. 224, fasc. 631, f. 131r.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 16
Tardini notes, February 4, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, n. 27; Tardini note, February 28, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, n. 57.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 17
Commenting on Pancino’s visit, the nuncio reported that Edda had cried a great deal at the special mass she attended with her children to pray for the soul of her husband. The telegram sent by Bernardini to the Vatican reporting on the success of Pancino’s mission, dated March 24, 1944, along with Pancino’s March 25 letter of thanks to Bernardini “for all that you have done,” and Bernardini’s March 31 report of Pancino’s visit to the Swiss government, are found at AAV, Arch. Nunz. Svizzera, b. 224, fasc. 631, ff. 136r–40r. The involvement of Cardinal Maglione and Monsignor Tardini in arranging the meeting is documented at ff. 128r–35r. Bernardini’s accounts of Pancino’s mission are found at ff. 132r and 140r. In the latter account, dated March 31, 1944, he wrote, “I am convinced that from the spiritual point of view the long conversation [of Edda Mussolini with Father Pancino] did a great deal of good for that poor soul who, distant from God, stubbornly seeks comfort amid the ruins of a world that has crumbled around her.” In a subsequent sharply worded letter Edda sent her father, dated May 28, 1944, she proclaimed her pride in her husband and referred angrily to her “servants” and his “bosses.” Mussolini’s reply, dated simply July 1944, can be found now along with Edda’s letter at AAV, Arch. Nunz. Svizzera, b. 224, fasc. 631, ff. 200r, 201r.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 18
Atkinson 2007, pp. 358–92; Nicolas Roland,“Operation Shingle: Landing at Anzio Italy,” Naval History and Heritage Command, 2018, https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1944/anzio.html.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 19
Katz 2003, pp. 146–49.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 20
Osborne to Foreign Office, London, January 26, 1944, NAK, CAB, 122/865, 40.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 21
Michaelis 1978, p. 390; Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Sottosegretario di Stato, Salerno, to On. Comitato Parlamentare Ebraico, Camera dei Comuni, Londra, February 25, 1944, n. 1378, ASDMAE, SG, b. 27.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 22
Lehnert 1984, p. 129; Montini notes, January 25, 1944, ADSS, vol. 10, n. 20; Osborne to Foreign Office, London, February 4, 1944, tel. 70, NAK, WO 220/274.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 23
Air Ministry, Britain, Eaker memo, February 2, 1944, NARA, RG 84, box 47, p. 48; L. Mathewson, Memorandum for the President, February 22, 1944; Chiefs of Staff, War Department, to AFHQ, February 12, 1944; and Wilson, War Department to British Chiefs of Staff, February 2, 1944, all in FDR Library, mr 293, pp. 51, 55, 56; British Chiefs of Staff memo, February 8, 1944, NAK, CAB, 122/865, 41, 45; Osborne to Foreign Office, London, February 2, 1944, tel. 64, NAK, WO, 220/274.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 24
On the activities of Caruso and Koch at this time, see Osti Guerrazzi 2020.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 25
Tardini notes, February 4, 1944; Secretariat of State notes, February 4, 1944; Tardini notes, February 4, 1944; Montini notes, February 4, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, nn. 23, 24, 25, 26. Bérard’s account of the events in his February 5 report to Vichy is found at MAEC, Guerre Vichy, 461. Babuscio Rizzo’s account, dated February 7, 1944, is found at ASDMAE, AISS, b. 186.
The San Paolo raid was not the first joint Italian-German invasion of a major Catholic institution in Rome aimed at capturing refugees hiding there. In late December 1943, a number of such institutions were raided, including the Lombard Seminary, the Oriental Institute, and the Pontifical Institute of Archaeology. Refugees were discovered in each and seized. According to one of the reports found in the Vatican archives, seven people were arrested at the Lombard Seminary, including an army captain-physician, a young man apparently avoiding conscription, a Communist organizer, a man listed as a Roman Jew, and three men each identified as a “baptized Jew” together with the year of baptism. AAV, Segr. Stato, Commissione Soccorsi, b. 332, fasc. 307, f. 18r. Rich documentation on these raids is found in this fascicolo at ff. 11r–37r. In this case, too, Father Pancrazio initially claimed the Germans had taken no part in the raids but was then confronted with evidence by the Secretariat of State that in fact they were (f. 25r).
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 26
It seems that the cardinal had given a copy of the draft protest to the Brazilian ambassador, who had mentioned it to his German colleague.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 27
Maglione notes, February 5, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, n. 27. Although the cardinal thought it prudent not to accuse the Germans of any responsibility or even knowledge of the assault on San Paolo, he had good reason to believe at the time that this was untrue. Not only had monks at the abbey testified to seeing German police cars outside at the time, but they told of Germans struggling to speak Italian among the men who were interrogating the people caught inside. Tardini notes, February 5, 1944, and February 7, 1944, Secrétairerie d’État aux Missions diplomatiques près le S. Siège, February 7, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, nn. 23, 28, 31, 32.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 28
Notes de la Secrétairerie d’État, February 9–11, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, n. 35. Caruso would not live to see the end of the year, executed by a firing squad in Rome on September 22, 1944. Osti Guerrazzi 2005, pp. 94–97.
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The pope had reasons not to want to bring any public attention to what had happened, as the Italian envoy to the Vatican explained in his report of the incident: “It is clear that the Holy See found itself embarrassed by the fact that some of the refugees were wearing religious robes in the Basilica of San Paolo.” Indeed, Fascist newspapers had published photographs of the Italian general being removed from the basilica wearing a monk’s tunic. The Vatican was calling for the return of those illegally seized in the raid, Babuscio observed, but “rather than having to enter into direct negotiations with the republican government, it would prefer to leave things the way they are.” Babuscio Rizzo to R. Ministero degli Affari Esteri, February 11, 1944, n. 1/4, ASDMAE, APSS, b. 72. Two months later the pope directed Cardinal Maglione to summon the Benedictine monk who served as abbot of San Paolo and tell him not to allow any refugees there to dress in clerical garb. Maglione notes, April 6, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, n. 30.
An April 26, 1944, note by Cardinal Maglione—in the newly opened Vatican archives—refers to a promise that Buffarini made him that he would see that “little by little all those arrested at San Paolo would be released.” Maglione met that same day with Ambassador Weizsäcker, reminding him of this promise and noting that so far it had not been kept. AAV, Segr. Stato, Commissione Soccorsi, b. 332, fasc. 307, f. 97v.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 30
Shortly after the San Paolo raid, Monsignor Montini received a warning from Rome police commissioner Camillo Liccardi that a raid on St. John in Lateran was imminent by the same group that had raided St. Paul. Its aim, he said, would be to capture any “refugees” found there and to discover a hidden room where it was thought arms might be stored. Tardini later added a handwritten note: “This sheet documents one of the many rumors that, from September 1943 to June 1944, were often repeated and left the responsible authorities quite worried.” Appunto per Sua Eccellenza, February 21, 1944, ASRS, AA.EE.SS., Pio XII, parte I, Italia, posiz. 1356, f. 18r.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 31
Osti Guerrazzi 2004, p. 65.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 32
From Domine salva nos perimus, “Lord save us, we perish” (Matt. 8:25).
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 33
Mgr Anichini au pape Pie XII, February 13, 1944, ADSS, vol. 10, n. 53. The pope’s fears of having Vatican City be viewed as harboring Jews and others seeking protection from the Germans were fed by his eagerness to retain productive ties with the German military command in Italy. In February, with Father Pfeiffer as the Vatican’s intermediary, private meetings had been arranged between Cardinal Canali, head of the commission overseeing Vatican City, and General Stahel, General Mälzer, and Major Böhm. On February 26, 1944, Enrico Galeazzi was dispatched to represent Vatican City, accompanying Pfeiffer on a trip to Marshal Kesselring’s headquarters fifty kilometers from Rome, to express the hope that this cooperation continue. Galeazzi to Maglione, February 28, 1944, and Galeazzi/Pfeiffer report, February 27, 1944, ASRS, AA.EE.SS., Pio XII, parte I, Italia, posiz. 1336, ff. 314r, 315r–20r.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 34
Chirieleison, “Appunto per il Maresciallo d’Italia Rodolfo Graziani,” February 13, 1944, ATMR, Processi definiti, 34901, Chirieleison, b. 592-C; Comando Supremo, Promemoria Consegnato al Vaticano February 15, 1944, prot. 10, ASDMAE, APSS, b. 71; Chirieleison, “Promemoria consegnato al Vaticano,” February 15, 1944, ATMR, Processi definiti, 34901, Chirieleison, b. 592-C; Maglione to Cicognani, Washington, D.C., February 17, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, n. 41; Cicognani to FDR, February 17, 1944, FDR Library, psfa 496, pp. 20–21; Osborne to Foreign Office, London, February 17, 1944, NAK, CAB 122/865, 51A and 51B; Secretariat of State to Weizsäcker, February 17, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, n. 42 (see Osborne reply n. 49); Roberts 2018, p. 812.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 35
For the story of the bombing of Montecassino, see Atkinson 2007, pp. 432–41.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 36
Tittmann to Hull, February 19, 1944, FRUS 1944, vol. 4, pp. 1282–83; OSS memo, March 31, 1944, reporting for February 21 and 28, NARA, RG 84, box 47, 840.1, pp. 60, 61; Osborne to Foreign Office, London, March 7, 1944, tel. 147, NAK, WO 106/4038.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 37
Cardinal Schuster was sending copies of both Il Regime Fascista and the new Catholic Fascist journal to the Vatican, where the appearance of well-known priests among their authors was causing some alarm. In April 1944 he shared his suspicion with Cardinal Maglione that “the group of priests behind the Crociata Italica is headed by the Duce.” Schuster to Maglione, April 25, 1944, ASRS, AA.EE.SS., Pio XII, parte I, Italia, posiz. 1352a, f. 531. He wrote again to the pope about the publication in July, complaining that it “continues its campaign against L’Osservatore Romano, Holy Father, Clergy.” Schuster’s letter came to the pope via Bernardini’s July 14 telegram from Bern. ASRS, AA.EE.SS., Pio XII, parte I, Italia, posiz. 1356, f. 130r. In notes written in October, Tardini observed that “a mosaic of priests is being formed around Farinacci that is worthy of him…. But the harm that these priests are doing with their writings should not be undervalued, also because not all that they write can be called ‘sciocchezze’ [foolishness] or ‘lies’: don Calgano, for example, appears to be an intelligent person.” Tardini notes, October 21, 1944, ADSS, vol. 11, n. 397.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 38
OSS report, Milan, February 24, 1944, FDR Library, mr 438, p. 177. The previous October American intelligence had already noted the switch in Cardinal Schuster’s loyalties, as the republican Fascists were arresting priests and others deemed opponents of their German-backed rule: “Cardinal Schuster issues an edict this week which threatens with excommunication those who ‘slanderously’ denounce persons to the authorities and accuse them of political crimes or of transgressions against the orders of the military authorities. The Schuster edict points to a veritable epidemic of anonymous denunciations, following the reinstatement of the Fascist regime, leading to the imprisonment and internment of many members of the clergy…. The edict is doubly significant because it comes from a prelate well-known for his strongly pro-Fascist leanings.” Weekly Review of Foreign Broadcasts, FCC 15–21, October 1943, NARA, RG 165, color 279.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 39
Roberto Farinacci, “Lettera aperta a S.E. il Card. I. Schuster,” RF, May 3, 1944, p. 1. On Crociata Italica, see Franzinelli 2012, pp. 81–82. Shortly after the German occupation of northern Italy in September 1943, Cardinal Schuster began sending the pope a series of letters recounting the arrest of priests on suspicion of aiding partisans as well as reports of the deportation and murder of Jews. Among the first of these was a handwritten letter he addressed to the pope on October 15, 1943, describing the brutal arrests of two parish priests, the desecration of crucifixes by members of the German SS, and the murder of all seventeen members of Jewish families staying at a hotel: “Men and women massacred, and then thrown into Lake Maggiore, and the three children killed in the forest and then buried.” ASRS, AA.EE.SS., Pio XII, parte I, Italia, posiz. 1352b, ff. 550r–51v.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 40
Chapter 37: A Gratifying Sight
“Spezzoni anglo-sassoni sulla Città del Vaticano,” RF, March 3, 1944, p. 1. “A few minutes before eight p.m. on 1 March,” read the report from American intelligence, “the same kind of solitary plane which was responsible for the outrage of 5 November, dropped six bombs in the immediate vicinity of Vatican City…. Everyone agrees that it is a repetition of the first attack on the Vatican City, and that it was devised in the same Fascist circles. Such methods, although incredibly stupid, are consistent with Farinacci’s campaign against the Vatican.” OSS memo, March 31, 1944, March 7 entry, NARA, RG 84, box 47, 840.1, pp. 61–62.
BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 1
Wilson, British AFHQ, to Air Ministry, British Chiefs of Staff, copy to D.C., March 25, 1944, NARA, RG 84, box 47, 840.4, pp. 58–59; Representatives of British Chiefs of Staff, April 4, 1944, and Joint Staff Mission to Chiefs of Staff, memo, April 7, 1944, NAK, CAB, 122/865, pp. 76, 70A.
