SHOAH ROMANA
Roman Jews Under German Occupation
Jewish Deportation
On the morning of October 16, 1943, German soldiers marched on the Roman Jewish ghetto and began to force Jews out of their homes. The operation was organized out of the headquarters of the German forces, located at 145/155 Via Tasso. The apartments were transformed into cells, where anti-Nazi and antifascist individuals were imprisoned and tortured. It was here that the plan for Jewish deportation was developed by Nazi forces.
On the day of the round up, many Romans attempted to hide their Jewish neighbors, but there were no armed or forceful attempts at resistance. By the end of the razzia, around 1,023 Jews, mostly women and children, were transported to the Collegio Militare and packed into trains. It is also estimated that for every Jew captured, 11 were able to escape the round up. After the initial round up, many of the Jews who had escaped the round-up would turn to their neighbors the church for refuge.
Although they were told their destination was a labor camp, the captured Jews were delivered to Auschwitz and divided up into two groups. 820 were deemed unfit for labor and immediately sent to the gas chambers, while the remaining 201 were put to work. At the end of the Shoah Romana, only 15 men out of the initial 1,023 were able to survive the war.
Settimo Calo' lost his wife and 9 children when they were deported by the Nazi's to Auschwitz
Stones laid throughout Rome in front of the houses of the deported.
Settimo Calo' lost his wife and 9 children when they were deported by the Nazi's to Auschwitz
Photo: List of demands from the Germans on the day of the round up. The Jews had only 20 minutes to the gather their belongings before their deportation. (Museo Storico della Liberazione)
Into Hiding: Rome's Resistance
It is estimated by historians that around 80 percent of Rome’s Jewish population survived the Holocaust. This is actually a remarkable statistic, especially when compared to the 10 percent of Polish Jews who survived through German occupation. What made the city of Rome so different from other occupied regions? A key difference was that Roman Jews identified first as Roman, and therefore often had strong social connections to non-Jewish citizens. In the wake of the initial round up, Roman Jews fled their community to find refuge among their non-Jewish friends and neighbors, as well as Catholic convents.
An interesting detail that highlights the reluctance of Italians to comply with Hitler’s regime is the fact that German soldiers were sent to the ghetto for the round up, rather than Italian police. The Gestapo did not trust the Italian police force to carry out their orders, and they were clearly aware of the dangerous unity among the Roman people.
The most common acts of everrday resistance carried out after the deportations were done in secret. Neighbors took in nieghbors, hospitals and churches opened their doors. On the island of Tiburtina where the Ospedale Fatebenefratelli stands, doctors and nurses hid jews and antifascists telling the Germans they were suffering from "K-Syndrome."
By the spring of 1944 it was said that ‘half of Rome was hiding the other half’.
In this part of the Ospedale Fatebenefratelli jews and antifascists were hidden by the hospital staff.
The doorman of this household hid 12-year-old Elisa Pavoncello and her mothers and sisters on the morning of the round-up. The next day they sought shelter with friends in another neighborhood and returned after the liberation. Although the aristocratic Costaguti family had been active members of the fascist party they did not support the Nazis.
Santa Cecilia was one of many churches that opened their doors to jews in the wake of the round up. Santa Cecilia took in 43 jews in the fall of 1943. Other churches include Santa maria Dell'Orto, Santa maria dei Sette Dolori, and Nostra Signora di Sion.
In this part of the Ospedale Fatebenefratelli jews and antifascists were hidden by the hospital staff.
Celeste "Stella" Di Porto
Despite the countless Romans who did what they could to protect their Jewish friends and neighbors, Jews were still captured in the months following the round up. One woman in particular, named Stella DiPorto, became notorious for assisting in the capture of Jews in exchange for a sum of money. She was a Jew herself, and at just 18 years old she earned the nickname “The Black Panther” for pointing out Jews to German soldiers. Unfortunately for Stella, after the war was over she was forced to flee to Naples and was later imprisoned.
Response of the Catholic Church
There is a lot of controversy over the actions of Pope Pius XII during the German occupation of Italy. Supporters of the Pope insist that he worked actively behind the scenes to resist the Nazi regime, yet there is no evidence of any directives given by the Pope to assist the Italian Jewish population. Throughout the German occupation of Rome, the policy of the papacy was to remain silent in the name of political neutrality. The Pope did not want to get the church involved in the politics of war, and he hesitated to take a stance against Jewish persecution.
The Pope may have remained silent on discrimination against Jews, but the religious institutions of Rome did not necessarily act in accordance with the Pope’s public stance. After the initial round-up on October 16th, Jewish refugees were accepted into the Vatican’s monasteries and convents, as well as the Pope’s summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. The Pope may not have taken action to condemn the persecution of Jews, but numerous churches throughout Rome nonetheless did what they could to protect their fellow Roman citizens.
Despite all of the heroic measures taken by members of the church, when it came to protecting the Vatican itself, the Pope was willing to eject Jews in order to enforce neutrality. After a raid in February of 1944 on the Basilica and monastery of St. Paul Outside the Walls, refugees were ordered out of Vatican City to prevent any more attacks. With the Vatican itself threatened, silence was no longer an option. It is undeniable that Pope Pius XII could have done much more to help save the Roman Jewish population from persecution and death.
Photo: St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.
Hugh O'Flaherty
More than 400 Jewish citizens hid within the Vatican walls during World War Two. Although Pope Pius II did not make strong strides to fight against the Nazi party, there were many other people within the church who did. Hugh O’Flaherty, a Vatican Priest, helped and saved thousands of citizens throughout the war through his bold and heroic actions.
In 1943 O'Flaherty began to disguise people who were at risk of being captured by the Nazi Party and secretly hid them in the Vatican city and other places around Rome through various connections he had. Once he even snuck a woman into the city by giving her the clothes of a Vatican Officer and bring her past Nazi soldiers who were standing at the entrance of the Vatican to closely monitor who was going in and out of the city. He also made friends with workers in the transportation system of Rome in order to safely transport Jews when city wide curfews were up into place and O’Flaherty was only able to transport people during the day. Once he even stole an official Vatican car in order to drive a Jewish citizen to the hospital for surgery. When there, he asked the nurses to secretly add the man to the surgery list and he was operated on and taken care of by unknowing German doctors and nurses. Once he was released, O’Flaherty picked him up and drove him back to his apartment in hiding. O’Flaherty helped anyone who came to him and did what many saw to be impossible. Although we do not know exactly how many Jewish lives he saved due how secretive his work was, it has been estimated that he helped save at least 4,000 people.
Sources:
http://www.msgrhughoflaherty.50webs.com/framesetHOF.html
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlker/scarlet.html