Courageous Roman clergy's 'dramatic day' recalled

Nazi round-up of Jews in Rome partially foiled by priests, nuns

An artist's depiction of the German S.S. forcible collection of Jews in Rome Oct. 16, 1943.
Photo / L'Osservatore Romano

The official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, took a step back in time to the time of the Second World War. Reporter Giovanni Preziosi describes the heroism of the religious orders which hid Jews in religious institutes around the Eternal City.

By this time in the war, with the Allied Powers slowly gaining ground up the Italian coast, the Nazis had occupied Rome and surrounded the Vatican.

Then Rome's remaining Jews were rounded up on the night of Oct. 16, 1943.

Survivor Roberto Piperno remembered:

"I was a 5-year-old. My father had frequent contact with the Vatican since he was a textile merchant.

 Thus it was possible for to get my mother, sister, both grandmothers, and myself to stay at the monastery of the Bethlehem Sisters in Sabazio Square. We spent our time there before the Allied liberation June 4, 1944."

During Piperno's time with the sisters, "I do not have a sad memory in terms of human relationships. Certainly their sympathetic attitude made the condition of imprisonment  and fear more tolerable. And for this I am still grateful."

Read the full article here.