The Nazis, the Vatican, and the Jews of Rome, livre ebook

On October 16, 1943, the Jews of Rome were targeted for arrest and deportation. The Nazis, the Vatican, and the Jews of Rome examines why—and more importantly how—it could have been avoided, featuring new evidence and insight into the Vatican’s involvement. At the time, Rome was within reach of the Allies, but the overwhelming force of the Wehrmacht, Gestapo, and SS in Rome precluded direct confrontation. Moral condemnations would not have worked, nor would direct confrontation by the Italians, Jewish leadership, or even the Vatican.

Gallo underscores the necessity of determining what courses of actions most likely would have spared Italian Jews from the gas chambers. Examining the historical context and avoiding normative or counterfactual assertions, this book draws upon archival sources ranging from diaries to intelligence intercepts in English, Italian, and German.

With antisemitism on the rise today and the last remaining witnesses passing away, it is essential to understand what happened in 1943. The Nazis, the Vatican, and the Jews of Rome grapples with this particular, awful episode within the larger, horrifying story of the Holocaust. Despite the inadequacy of memory, we must continue to attempt to make sense of the inexplicable.

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Chief
2. Germany’s Fanatic Determination to Fight
3. I’ll Go Right into the Vatican
4. I Wanted to Make an Air Drop in Rome
5. The Worst Horrors of the Nazi Regime
6. Do Not Worry
7. Like a City of the Dead
8. The Reincarnation of the Dying Corpse
9. I Have a Special Mission for You
10. A Final Solution to the Jewish Question
11. We Must Disperse the People
12. The Byzantine Christ
13. If You Pay, No Harm Will Come to You
14. We Had the Moral Right
15. Keep Out of All Questions Concerning Jews
16. Like Autumn Leaves Lay Waiting
17. Los! Raus! Schnel!
18. It Is Simply Impossible to Refuse
19. Let’s Go Make a Few Phone Calls
20. Train X70469
21. Numbers 1581–158639
22. These Jews Will Never Return to Their Homes
23. He Is No Longer Our Rabbi
24. A Connection to the Pope
25. We Have Contended with Diabolical Forces
26. I Was Only an Executor of Orders
Epilogue: I Must Go Back and Tell
Notes
Bibliography
Index