Read The Vatican Pimpernel Online
Authors: Brian Fleming
The Vatican Pimpernel (6 page)
The Irish Legation was located quite close to Rome's central barracks and the railway station terminus. Thomas Kiernan felt that, in the light of the Allied bombing, this was a dangerous place to keep his family so they moved to live on a temporary basis in one of the Vatican's extra-territorial properties on the Via del Penitenziari close to St Peter's Basilica. He describes the outpouring of joy in Rome at the fall of Mussolini:
A few minutes before midnight we were raised from our beds by wild shouting of exultation. Broken-down cars loaded with young men were careering through Rome shouting their heads off. Mussolini is arrested ⦠People who have been waiting like a condemned-to-death prisoner reacted now with all the wild abandon of reprieve. Not only reprieve, but complete liberty. Little did they, or any of us, anticipate that Rome's travail was only then about to begin ⦠We dressed hurriedly and went out, following the stream of improvised traffic. Suddenly a flame lit up the darkness ⦠Blocked in the chaos of traffic we saw the flames rise to light the great Basilica.
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The anti-Fascist forces within the city were breaking into the offices of the authorities and taking out furniture, paper, chairs and anything they could put their hands on and had lit a bonfire near St Peter's. Another observer, a Swiss journalist named de Wyss, was alert to the political significance of the comments of the people:
Hearing the news, people rushed into the streets just as they were; in night-gowns, night-shirts, pyjamas, some in trousers and bare to the waist, some in slippers, some barefoot, all howling, yelling, screaming ⦠They shouted â
Abasso Mussolini
' (down with Mussolini) ⦠the publishing office of
Il Tevere
(a rabidly Fascist newspaper) was set on fire ⦠I often heard anti-German shouts ⦠many times, on seeing Germans, they shouted âout with the foreigners' ⦠I also saw them applauding a bonfire of Fascist insignia.
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Unfortunately, the jubilation was short lived as Badoglio's new Government announced that it would remain at war on Hitler's side. Essentially this was a diversionary tactic. The new Prime Minister secretly entered immediately into direct negotiations with the Allies. It was fairly obvious to all observers â the Roman citizens, the diplomats and indeed the Germans â that this was what he intended to do.
The situation here is still extremely delicate. There are now twelve German divisions in the peninsula and six more on the way ⦠Three divisions in the neighbourhood of Rome are causing anxiety as it is feared they may seize both the King and the Pope in case of capitulation. âWe regret' said a cabinet member to me today âthat the Allies have not a clearer comprehension of our painful situation. The forces are still four hundred miles away yet they want us to capitulate and at the same time fight the Germans. We are not in a position to continue fighting but we are unable to withdraw from the conflict. All our people are disappointed that peace did not follow immediately after the fall of Mussolini.'
6
(
MacWhite
, 11 August 1943)
Indeed, after the War it emerged that on 29 July German code breakers listened to a telephone conversation between Churchill and Roosevelt on the topic of an Italian Armistice. The new Italian Government was playing for time because they were aware that they did not have the forces to resist any German occupation. However, they exaggerated the possibilities that were open to the Allied Forces. They thought that the Allies could occupy Rome quite rapidly. However, a US General, Maxwell Taylor, went behind enemy lines to consider the possibilities of an air drop to secure Rome. He met Badoglio in Rome on 8 September but quickly realised that an air drop would not be sufficient to establish control of the city and he advised his Commander, Eisenhower, accordingly. Within the Vatican, D'Arcy Osborne and Tittmann were of the belief that the Germans were likely to take over Rome, and possibly the Vatican, so they began to destroy all confidential documents. Indeed, on 4 August, Cardinal Maglione held an urgent meeting of all his fellow Cardinals living in Rome. He advised them that the Italian Government was expecting a German coup and an invasion of the Vatican. Government sources had predicted to him that the Germans would seize the Pope and take him to Munich.
GermanâItalian tension is increasing daily and anything may happen at any moment. The cordon of Italian troops in the immediate vicinity of Rome has been reinforced ostensibly against an Allied attack but in reality against the Germans who form another cordon eight or ten miles away.
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(
MacWhite
, 31 August 1943)
The Allies and the Badoglio Government announced the signing of the Armistice on 8 September. The German Commander, Kesselring, was taken by surprise but moved fairly quickly to take control of Rome.
An American-born nun, Mother Mary St Luke, was working in Rome at the Vatican Information Bureau. Her diary entries around that time captured the mood:
At half past seven the news of the Armistice broke. The Roman Radio broadcast Eisenhower's statement involving Badoglio's short dignified address to the Italian people. Armistice â a sigh of relief went up from the crowds around the loudspeakers. Then a pause. People looked at each other questioningly â âArmistice or Armageddon?' What about the Germans? In country places such as Cori, up in the hills where there were no Germans, the rejoicing knew no bounds; bonfires were lit, and the peasants and the village folk rioted to their heart's content. But Rome was quiet. Marshal law was still in force, and by 9.30 the streets were deserted. But there were plenty of celebrations indoors.
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(
Mother Mary St Luke
, 8 September 1943)
In the papers there was a chorus of approval for Badoglio's measures. The German radio let loose a flood of invective against the âvile treason of the Italians' ⦠People overflowing with optimism began to talk English freely on the telephone. Yes, it was all over. The Italians would have to hold out for just one week and then the Allies would be here; they dropped leaflets to that effect. Everything was lovely ⦠In the afternoon it clouded over and the morning's optimism clouded over too ⦠By six, knots of people collected in the streets and the word went around in horrified whispers that the Germans were marching into Rome ⦠A lot of Italian soldiers hastily put on civilian clothes. The Roman barracks were evacuated.
9
(
Mother Mary St Luke
, 9 September 1943)
By midday St Peter's was shut. When, in the memory of man had it been shut in the daytime? ⦠At the Arco delle Campane gate a Swiss with business-like rifle and bayonet instead of his medieval pike, guarded the entrance ⦠By degrees the fighting moved in from the country ⦠and near St Paul's Italian soldiers appeared in disorder, straggling along the Lungotevere, dusty, hungry and bedraggled. But there were no officers. The men reported that their officers said âwe have no more ammunition. Do what you can for yourself, boys,' and left them ⦠the whole thing was a mixture of riot, civil war, real war and anarchy.
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(
Mother Mary St Luke
, 10 September 1943)
T. J. Kiernan describes the atmosphere in Rome from his perspective:
During the forty days of the Badoglio Regime, Rome was a city of the wildest rumours. One day it was declared âan open city. The next day it was not. The Allies were reported to have made a landing at Ostia, the seaside resort of Rome. They had not. And so the rumours went round and round while German Battalions advanced towards the city â¦
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De Wyss, the journalist, had similar experiences:
People were excited and depressed in turn. They feared the Germans more than ever, which is right, I suppose. All Italians I talked to asked angrily: âbut where are the Allies? But what are the Allies doing? Why are they not coming here?'
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Some time later MacWhite observed the scene:
Fighting continued through the day. At 5.00 p. m. German tanks came around the corner of the Grand Hotel and proceeded towards the railway station two hundred yards away which was occupied by the Italians who after a half hour cannonading withdrew ⦠situation is very confused. Romans are praying for a rapid arrival of the Allies. The King and cabinet ⦠have left the city for an unknown destination.
13
(
MacWhite
, 11 September 1943)
Meanwhile, Mother Mary was quick to note the changing circumstances in the city.
At 1 o'clock the Roman radio now German-controlled of course, broadcast the following âYesterday an armistice was agreed upon by the commanders of the German and Italian troops in the area. Since then the behaviour of Italian soldiers has been such that the following measures have been taken.
1. It is forbidden to carry arms. Soldiers bearing them will be arrested and disarmed.
2. Anyone killing a German soldier will be shot. Otherwise the armistice remains in force.
So was it an armistice. Or wasn't it?
14
(
Mother Mary St Luke
, 11 September 1943)
Indeed, as Mother Mary had observed, the Germans were in fact in control of the city by that date. Hitler went on Radio Rome to make an address to the Italian people. This address made it clear that the German authorities would introduce a regime which would make the Italians pay dearly for having deposed âher greatest son ⦠since the fall of the ancient world'. Immediate arrangements were put in place to imprison Italian military personnel. By 11 September, Kesselring was in complete charge of Rome and issued a proclamation which, among other things, stated the following:
1. The Italian territory under my command is declared to be a war territory. It is subject throughout to the German martial law.
2. Any crimes committed against the German armed forces will be judged according to German martial laws.
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Later on in the document further regulations were outlined:
6. Until further notice, private correspondence is suspended. All telephone conversations should be as brief as possible, and they will be strictly supervised.
7. Italian civil authorities and organisations are responsible to me for the maintenance of public order. They will prevent all acts of sabotage and of passive resistance to German measures, and they will co-operate fully with the German organisations.
16
Less than 24 hours after Hitler's address, the Germans managed to snatch Mussolini from captivity and he was subsequently moved to Lake Garda where he set up a government which had no real power, merely acting as a front for the German occupation.
The senior German diplomat in Rome at that time was Ambassador von Weizsaecker who, in fact, was not a Nazi. In his own mind, the Ambassador hoped somehow to organise a situation where the Vatican might mediate a peace between the Allies and Germany. Ambassador von Weizsaecker was authorised to inform the Pope in mid-September that the Germans would respect the independence of the Vatican and would protect the Vatican City from fighting.
At that stage there were about 80,000 Allied servicemen and civilians opposed to the regime imprisoned in 72 camps and 12 hospitals throughout Italy. The desertion by the Italian guards in camps all around the country enabled approximately 50,000 prisoners of war to gain their freedom. Of these, 18,000 were not recaptured in the succeeding months. This situation created a new challenge for O'Flaherty: not only were the numbers seeking help increasing greatly but the Germans had now established a military government and the Gestapo became more influential in the security situation throughout the city. Clearly a more formal, secure and organised approach was now necessary. O'Flaherty decided to look for help from the British authorities and so approached D'Arcy Osborne with whom he had developed a friendship on the golf course over the years. Given that so many of those whom he was likely to be assisting were British, the Monsignor was fairly confident of a positive response but the Minister took a very formal position. The British Minister was aware that he was being watched and needed to be very careful to avoid compromising his own role and that of the Vatican authorities. He had adverted to this issue previously in his diary:
I believe that daily reports are sent out on our doings. They must be dammed dull reading. The precise connection between the Italian police outside and the Vatican plain clothes police and gendarmerie inside defies precise definition but it very definitely exists. In its subtlety it is both very Italian and very Vatican. So that, while guests of the Pope, we are at the same time to some extent prisoners of the Italian Government.
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These concerns were shared by others. In December 1938 MacWhite wrote to Walshe advising that plain-clothes men were watching foreign diplomats and that he had heard that even diplomatic pouches were being tampered with regularly.
Certainly there were close links between the Vatican gendarmerie and their Italian counterparts probably because many of those in the Vatican had previously been employed in the Roman police force outside. Over and above that of course there was always the danger of agents working inside the Vatican and passing on information. So, while D'Arcy Osborne took the view that he could not get involved, he acknowledged that the Monsignor had offered great assistance to his countrymen and in return he made a promise to provide funds from his own personal resources as distinct from official ones. Far more importantly, however, he suggested to O'Flaherty that it might be useful for the Monsignor to have a discussion with the Ambassador's man-servant, John May. May proved to be a most valuable ally. Indeed O'Flaherty subsequently described May as âindispensable, a genius, the most magnificent scrounger I have ever come across'.
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