Rome and the Holy See

The Hon Tim Fischer AC, former Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, has since published his account of his 1000 days in his ambassadorial job in the book Holy See, Unholy Me. As Australia’s first ambassador in Rome, Tim Fischer brought a new relationship to the Vatican city between a country of distinct Anglo colonial origins but one where a significant proportion of its settlers were not only Catholic but also Italian. To speak of some of his book’s highlights, Tim Fischer addressed The Sydney Institute on Thursday, 26 September 2013.

           ROME AND THE HOLY SEE

TIM FISCHER

It is a delight to return to address The Sydney Institute and I happily recall a visit by Gerard and Anne Henderson to Rome during my posting, which was from January 2009 to the very end of January 2012, in fact 1000 days in Rome.

Tonight I will speak in two segments, the book generally and then a little on the Nazi occupation of Rome and Jewish rescue action of the Roman Catholic Church and specifically Pope Pius XII, Bishop of Rome and Rabbi Israel Zolli, the then Rabbi of Rome.

The book is deliberately titled Holy See, Unholy Me: 1000 Days in Rome, published by ABC Books, and is an attempt to share knowledge in relation to my unexpected posting, and to explain the complexity and joy of the posting to the 44 hectare nation city state of the Holy See, itself an associate member of the United Nations.

Under the Lateran Treaty, the same person cannot be Ambassador to both Italy and the Holy See so I was Australia’s first Rome resident Ambassador to the Holy See and its capital, Vatican City. Amanda Vanstone and later David Ritchie were the outstanding Ambassadors to Italy. To lower costs, we shared administrative staff and other resources where practical to do so and where permitted.

Amanda Vanstone saved one Australian company some $18 million through her contacts, knowledge and representations; David Ritchie and his Consular staff helped significantly the 23 Australians who were on board the Costa Concordia on the dreadful night of 13/14 Jan 2012; 32 people lost their lives that night.

The two key campaigns I was ordered to step up for were the UNSC campaign, including being appointed envoy to and visiting Bhutan, Eritrea, South Sudan, and to help with the SKA Radio Telescope campaign for the excellent site in Western Australia. Time does not allow me to detail all aspects but I was a small cog in the wheel for both successful campaigns.

Under a formal letter of instruction, I was ordered to pursue Australia’s interests relating to many issues, including food security, interfaith dialogue, religious freedom, people smuggling and Australia’s broad interests and profile, in the super hub of the Vatican and Rome. Again, time does not allow me to detail all of the issues and representations made so I suggest you read the book.

However, on food security I must mention the Vatican Conference on the Himalayan glacier melt which highlighted the massive impact that vanishing glaciers will have on the mighty rivers of the South Asia deltas, with food security implications for millions of people. There is a world food famine coming but I am confident the saga can be managed. I should add that the Pope’s chief scientist, Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, does excellent work relating to many fields of endeavour.

Tonight I want to also focus on the Nazi occupation of Rome and the approaching seventieth anniversary of the roundup of the Jewish population of Rome on Saturday 16 October 2013. In relation to this awful chapter of the history of Rome, may I observe at the outset that the then Pope Pius XII was a natural for being viewed with suspicion. He was fluent in German, and he had served many years in Munich and Berlin representing his predecessor and observing close hand the advent of the Third Reich and the Nazi campaigns.

It was easy to besmirch Pope Pius XII after the Nazi occupation. But whilst it can always be said more should have been done, a good starting point is to acknowledge some basic facts. There were 8000 registered Jews in Rome at the start of 1943, about 7000 survived the war and avoided deportation to Auschwitz, due in part to actions by both Pope Pius XII and Rabbi Israel Zolli, then Rabbi of Rome.

Rabbi Zolli was born in 1881 at Brody. He studied in Vienna and Florence before becoming Rabbi of Trieste in 1918 and then Rabbi of Rome in 1938. His grandson Enrico told me Rabbi Zolli could speak eleven languages and confirmed the conversion of Rabbi Zolli to Christianity at the Jesuit Gregorian University in 1946. Thereafter, he was banished or air brushed from history and even blamed for much of the roundup.

On 25 July 1943, Fascist leader Benito Mussolini was ousted from office and negotiations commenced with the Allies, who had already landed and occupied parts of southern Italy. Upon learning of this, Hitler feared a total switch of Italy from the Axis side to the Allied side and so ordered the Nazi occupation of Italy. Despite sporadic resistance, Rome was soon under the thumb of the Nazis, led by Supreme Southern Commander Albert Kesselring, and SS Commander Kappler. (Ironically, much is known of the activities of the Nazis in Rome due to Nazi lieutenant Nikolaus Kunkel, who finally gave a comprehensive interview to L’Osservatore Romano decades later.

This was published in early 2001.)

At stake were the lives of around 8000 Roman Jews and also a handful of escaping prisoners of war. At stake also was the sovereignty of Vatican City and the Holy See, along with the Papal Palace and estate of Castel Gandolfo, about one hour south of Rome. In fact Castel Gandolfo commanded a strategic location with sweeping views across all the southern coastal approaches to Rome, including the approach ultimately used by the US army.

For many cruel months during the Nazi occupation, Rome and its population suffered horribly as the SS dished out rough justice. Food supplies ran down and a form of civil war existed amongst the Italians. The underground movement supporting the Allies and the Vatican became more and more isolated, with restrictions by the Nazis on movement around Rome.

By September 1943, plans had been adopted for the rounding up of the 8000 Jews living in Rome and their dispatch to Auschwitz – Birkenau, that terrible Nazi-created place of so much death. In a last minute twist, an alternative plan emerged to use Jewish forced labour to help build up the defence structures required around Rome, especially to the south.

We now know that telegrams were sent from Rome to Berlin marked “very, very urgent” canvassing this alternative. However, the final definitive order was sent to Kappler on 11 October, containing the key words “proceed with the evacuation of the Jews without further delay”. It was on Saturday 16 October that the axe fell. The roundup of Jews was carried out with ruthless SS zeal. Just one week later a special train (X70469) departed Termini with 1002 Roman Jews on board.

On arrival at Auschwitz, the Jews would be ordered out of their cramped wagons, subjected to the Nazis’ cursory examination and flick of the hand, and dispatched, either to labour gangs or to the gas chambers. For most, it was death: only fifteen survived the war.

The question remains today, could this particular rounduphave been completely prevented by those in Rome? In answer to this, all eyes turn to Pope Pius XII, who had served as a papal diplomat in Munich and Berlin before his election as pope in 1939. So he not only spoke German fluently but also knew the power structures of Germany intimately, and had observed first-hand the emergence of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.

Looking at the saga over six decades later, it is best to cut through to some key facts that all reasonable-minded people accept did happen in the darkest days of World War II and ignore some of the spin out of mostly New York.

Fact one is the existence of a big split within the Jewish community of Italy before and during World War II. Many Jews were very pro-Fascist and anti-Communist, while others were anti-Fascist and pro-Communist. This meant there was no real unity and, without unity, communications and strategies were less than perfect in preparing for the Nazi occupation and all that it could be expected to bring. Rabbi Zolli was anti fascist.

Overlying this was an instruction from Mussolini that Jews who had fought for Italy in World War I, when Italy was on the side of the Allies (but in the main with disastrous generals), would be exempted from any labour restrictions or other anti-Jewish measures. This helped create a false sense of security. Many Jews said at the time that they knew the Nazis were coming but in Rome things would be different, and the remnant Italian authorities would help ensure that the Jews were not subject to any kind of roundup. The Nazis were also aided by the basic lie that was maintained until the bitter end: that all the Jews they rounded up were going off to work in labour camps and had nothing to fear.

Fact two was the order of Pius XII to open up the convents and monasteries, as well as Vatican City itself, to those fleeing the Nazis, particularly Jews. It could be said that ultimately the Nazis’ Jewish extermination policy was a failure in Rome, since about 7000 of the 8000 Jews escaped the roundup. Hundreds went into Vatican buildings and into monasteries and convents outside the Vatican walls, and many hid with brave gentile Italian families, or in the countryside. Others took the route of disguising themselves as non-Jewish, indeed as practising Christians.

Fact three is the contribution of nuns and priests, generally acknowledged, even at Yad Vashem, the giant Holocaust museum in Jerusalem – their work in providing shelter in convents and monasteries is rightly praised. Counterbalancing the panel saluting nuns and priests is an ugly panel slamming Pope Pius XII. After representations by the Vatican, the wording accompanying the panel was modified in 2012.

It was a deadly game of cat-and-mouse for each family, and for each convent or monastery giving shelter. Those caught by the Nazis harbouring Jews were arrested and given the death penalty, both in Rome and all over occupied Europe. Jews were to be exterminated by order of Hitler and the Nazi hierarchy. For the large Ursuline convent on Via Nomentana, there was an added risk, since the Nazis had occupied their front house, between the main convent building and the front entrance.

The Nazis were staying in the compound and observing a great deal, yet just over 100 Jews were bravely sheltered in this convent. Meticulous diaries kept by senior nuns at the time and held in the archives of the convent are spellbinding to read – detailing how the volume of food brought into the compound had to be played down, how there were frequent blackouts, and how water on occasions was cut off; how Allied bombing of the railway lines nearby came very close to damaging the convent.

Related to this is fact four, namely that after being asked to do so by Rabbi Zolli, Pope Pius XII gave orders to help raise a gold ransom demanded by SS Commander Kappler in exchange for protecting the Jews of Rome. This ransom was collected and paid, but sadly it proved futile, as no protection was forthcoming. Indeed, after the war the gold was found in a set of boxes, unpacked and unused. Nevertheless the Pope had moved quickly on this request.

More importantly, as mentioned, Pius XII ordered that where possible shelter be provided in Holy See territory to Jews on the run. The October 1943 Vatican directive was: “to house Jews persecuted by the Nazis in all religious institutes, to open the institutes and also the catacombs”. Pope Pius XII, made a difference. If absolute proof is sought then this quote provides it.

The Pope had serious concerns about the safety of the Curia and the independence of Vatican City during the Nazi occupation. He authorised that a conclave proceed in Spain should he be killed. It is known Hitler was planning to invade the Vatican itself.

Finally, the Allies came to the rescue, fighting their way northwards and eventually winning the Battle of Monte Cassino. Fortunately the Nazis decided not to make a stand in Rome. After losing Monte Cassino, two hours to the south of Rome, they quit the Eternal City and raced north before they could be cut off.

As the Allied soldiers flooded into Rome, singing broke out in the streets and the Pope appeared in St Peter’s Square. The relief was palpable, especially for the hidden Jewish population. They stepped out gingerly from convents and monasteries, and started the process of picking up the pieces of their lives.

After the examination of a great deal of historical material, my conclusion is that the Holy See and its head of government, Pope Pius XII, took action that led to the rescue of thousands of Jewish people from the Nazis. Could it have done more?

That will always be debated. The Pope failed to prevent one trainload of 1002 Jews from departing Rome for Auschwitz, how exactly could he; he failed to prevent or stop the Holocaust conducted by the Nazis across Europe, again how exactly could he; but he did provide sanctuary for many.

There is some evidence that after the war the Vatican helped facilitate a Nazi escape pipeline involving Croatia, allowing Nazi war criminals to make it to Latin America. There is also evidence that news of the Holocaust was relayed to the then Papal Nuncio in Turkey – none other than Pius XII’s successor, Pope John XXIII. Again, let the facts and truth come out as soon as possible.

Now, I accept that the ultimate high court of world Jewry ensconced in New York and the East Coast of the USA has a different view. They remind us that Pope Pius XII never actually uttered the word “Holocaust”. They have taken a neat tactical course that says until all the World War II archives of the Vatican are released, they will cut Pius XII no slack.

Further, the moment any suggestion is made to consider Pius XII for beatification and sainthood, his critics hit out at close to full power and use all media avenues to stamp it out. In my 1000 days in Rome, I kept encountering this at various levels. At one stage the capable Israeli Ambassador stated that there must be a recognition of the life-saving work of Pope Pius XII during the Nazi occupation; within twenty four hours he had to put out a statement of clarification, which one monsignor called “an excruciating backdown”. The media skills of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and others pushing the cause of Israel far outweigh the media skills of the Holy See.

All in all, Pope Pius XII and Rabbi Zolli did much to make a difference , so much as to draw ire from Italian Catholics. I quote Fascist Roberto Farinacci, 17 January 1945: “Pope Pius XII has fully espoused the Jewish cause to the point of offending the sensibilities of his flock…”

The final related question is why does this matter seventy years later, also why does the Holocaust feature so strongly in any focus on this ugly period of time. It matters in short because as a general rule history should be accurately portrayed to avoid dangerous misuse decades on. It matters because the Bishop of Rome of World War Two has been so besmirched it has knocked on to tarnish the image of subsequent Bishops of Rome, notably Benedict XVI.

It matters because you have cells and even one Bishop Williamson today denying the Holocaust, if those seeking to deny the holocaust ever succeed then the danger of future genocides and holocausts multiplies significantly. We can do better and serve our future chances of peace better if firstly the good works of Pope Pius XXII are accurately acknowledged.

My book written on weekends is one small step along this path of truth in history for our future sakes but also colour, action and movement into the work of an Ambassador. My posting to the Holy See was an unreal and wonderful experience, assisted by many and helped by the fabulous setting of the Eternal City.

Basta, or enough, as the Italians would say.

EDITOR’S NOTE

During the question/discussion period, Tim Fischer acknowledged the role of the left-wing German playwright Rolf Hochhuth. In his 1963 play The Deputy, Hochhuth was among the first commentators to criticise Pius XII by alleging that he was indifferent to the plight of Jews during the Holocaust. In his book Sacred Causes, the British historian Michael Burleigh described Rolf Hochhuth’s The Deputy as a “Communist-inspired denigration” of Pius XII.