The U.S.-based foundation, founded by Jew Gary Krupp, announced the findings in a statement sent to ZENIT.
"Many have criticized Pius XII for remaining silent during the arrest and when trains left Rome containing 1,007 Jews who were sent to the death camp Auschwitz," Krupp stated. "The critics also do not acknowledge Pius XII's direct intervention to end the arrests of Oct. 16, 1943."
"New discoveries prove that Pius XII acted directly behind the scenes to end the arrests at 2:00 p.m., on the very day they began, but who was powerless to stop the ill-fated train," he added. According to a recent study by researcher Deacon Dominiek Oversteyns, there were 12,428 Jews in Rome on Oct. 16, 1943.
"Pope Pius XII's direct action saved the lives of over 11,400 Jews," Krupp explained. "On the morning of Oct. 16, 1943, when the Pope learned of the arrests of the Jews, he immediately ordered an official Vatican protest with the German ambassador, which he knew would no doubt be fruitless.
"The Pope then sent his nephew, Prince Carlo Pacelli, to meet with Austrian Bishop Alois Hudal. Bishop Hudal, head of the National Church of Germany in Rome, was by some accounts, sympathetic to the Nazi's and had good relations with them. Prince Carlo Pacelli told Hudal that he was sent by the Pope, and that Hudal must write a letter to the German Governor of Rome, General Rainier Stahel, to demand that the arrests stop." (Read entire article.)
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2 comments:
I am glad that is being documented for all to know. I get annoyed at people I know who are Catholic bashers and love to accuse Pius XII of doing nothing.....but what did Churchill do, and what did Roosevelt do? We turned away a boat load of refugee Jews who requested asylum.
Julygirl said it correctly,"What did Churchill do? What did Roosevelt do? We turned away a boatload of refugees seeking asylum." We were lucky in America, we did not have an enemy with their boots on our necks. How many people were faced with the choice of losing their lives or their families lives by helping Jewish People or other groups marked by the Nazis. Even the Vatican knew the limits of their temporal power against Hitler's Germany. It is so easy to judge so many Europeans from the comfort of our far away American armchairs. We will never know the many stories of priests, bishops, ordinary citizens, and yes the Pope himself who worked behind the scenes trying to save lives. God knows the heroes.
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