Vatican Diplomats Who Rescued Jews

Monsignor Philippe Bernardini, Papal Nuncio and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Bern, Switzerland, 1942-45

Monsignor Philippe Bernardini, Papal Nuncio in Bern, Switzerland, repeatedly intervened on behalf of Jewish refugees who were stranded in Switzerland after fleeing Germany and Nazi occupied countries.  This prevented them from being deported from Switzerland during the war.  Bernardini placed couriers of the Vatican diplomatic service at the disposal of Jewish relief agencies.  They were thus able to issue visas through Ambassador Lados and Dr. Julius Kuhl in countries that had severed diplomatic relations with Poland.  Bernardini personally intervened on behalf of the Jews of Slovakia.  In addition, Bernardini helped Jewish relief agencies to save Jews by acquiring and distributing fictitious South American passports.  Bernardini also worked with the Red Cross to obtain recognition of these documents by South American governments. 

[Friedenson, Joseph, and David Kranzler, forward by Julius Kuhl. Heroine of Rescue: The Incredible Story of Recha Sternbuch Who Saved Thousands from the Holocaust. (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, 1984). Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 31-32, 35, 40, 60-61, 67-68, 79-80, 84, 117, 135-136, 140-142, 203, 212. Rothkirchen, Livia. “Vatican Policy and the ‘Jewish Problem’ in ‘Independent’ Slovakia (1939-1945).” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 40. Kranzler, David. Thy Brother’s Blood: The Orthodox Jewish Response During the Holocaust. (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah, 1987), pp. 190, 197-199, 202-203. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 63, 249, 252, 365n.7. Pawlikowski, John T. The Catholic response to the Holocaust: Institutional perspectives.  In Berenbaum, Michael, and Abraham J. Peck (Eds.). The Holocaust and History: The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed, and the Reexamined, pp. 551-565. (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1998), p. 557. Conway, John S. “Records and documents of the Holy See relating to the Second World War.” Yad Vashem Studies, 15 (1983), 327-345.  Tittmann, Harold H., Jr., Harold H. Tittman III (Ed.). Inside the Vatican of Pius XII: The Memoir of an American Diplomat During World War II. (New York: Image Books Doubleday, 2004), pp. 36-37.]


Monsignor-Archbishop Duca Francesco Borgonicini, Papal Nuncio to the Vatican State

In February 1943, Monsignor Duca Borgonicini interceded with Giuseppe Bastianini, who was Governor of Dalmatia and later Undersecretary of the Italian Foreign Ministry, to save the Jews of Split, Croatia.  In March 1943, he interceded to prevent the Jews in the Italian zone of France from being handed over to the Germans.  Borgonicini was primarily interested in saving Jews who were baptized and converted to Christianity.  His rescue efforts had very limited success.

[Steinberg, 1990, p. 80.  Carpi, Daniel. Between Mussolini and Hitler: The Jews and the Italian Authorities in France and Tunisia. (Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press, 1994), pp. 131-132. Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 156-157, 168-178, 191, 199, 256-262.]


Monsignor Giuseppe Burzio, Vatican Nuncio in Bratislava, Slovakia, 1940-1945

Monsignor Giuseppe Burzio was the Papal Nuncio in Bratislava, Slovakia, 1940-1945.  Burzio was 39 at the time of his posting.  On October 27, 1941, Burzio sent a report to the Holy See that Jews were being systematically murdered.  He further reported from Pressburg (Bratislava) of the imminent deportation of 20,000 Slovakian Jews.  In March 1942. he sent a new report about the deportation of Slovak Jews to Poland.  In the report, he stated that this deportation meant certain death.  Burzio’s protests of the mistreatment and deportation of Jews were addressed to Slovakian Prime Minister Tuka.  Ironically, Tuka was an ordained Catholic priest.  Burzio sent a copy of the Auschwitz Protocols to the Vatican in Rome in May 1944.  Burzio was responsible for implementing the rescue of a number of Slovakian Jews.  After the war, Burzio served as Nuncio to Bolivia from 1946-1950 and to Cuba from 1950-1954.  He left Vatican diplomatic service.  He became a canon of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.  He died in 1966.

[Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 73-91, 94-100, 117, 135, 199, 202, 226-233, 239-246. Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 710, 714, 937, 1064, 1067. Rothkirchen, Livia. “Vatican Policy and the ‘Jewish Problem’ in ‘Independent’ Slovakia (1939-1945).” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 36-52. Pawlikowski, John T. The Catholic response to the Holocaust: Institutional perspectives.  In Berenbaum, Michael, and Abraham J. Peck (Eds.). The Holocaust and History: The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed, and the Reexamined, pp. 551-565. (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1998), pp. 555-558. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 122, 1137, 1183. Rozett, Robert and Shmuel Spector. Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2000), p. 357. Conway, John S. “Records and documents of the Holy See relating to the Second World War.” Yad Vashem Studies, 15 (1983), 327-345. Lapide, Pinchas E. Three Popes and the Jews. (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1967), pp. 138-139, 142, 144, 147.]


Monsignor Andrea Cassulo, Vatican Nuncio, Bucharest, Romania, 1936-1947

Monsignor Andrea Cassulo was the Vatican nuncio in Bucharest, Romania.  Cassulo was appointed Nuncio in June 1936.  He was 72 years old.  In 1941, he began protecting baptized Jews in Romania.  He was responsible for protesting the deportation of Romanian Jews in 1942 and 1943.  He was tireless in his actions and his work was successful in saving Jewish lives.  He protested the deportations to the Romanian government and Nazi officials.  Cassulo worked closely with leaders of the Jewish community, including Chief Rabbi Dr. Alexander Safran and Swiss diplomat Rene de Weck.  Cassulo expedited relief efforts for deported Jews and served on committees establishing Jewish orphanages in Transnistria.  Cassulo remained in Bucharest until 1947, when he was forced to leave by the Communists.  He received many post-war commendations from the Jewish community.  He died in 1952 at age 83. 

[Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 25-47, 153, 199, 202, 216-220. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 306, 1297-1298, 1322. Vago, Bela. “Political and Diplomatic Activities for the Rescue of the Jews of Northern Transylvania.” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 71-72. Safran, Alexandre. “The Rulers of Fascist Rumania Whom I Had to Deal With.” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 179-180. Reitlinger, Gerald. The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945. (New York: The Beechhurst Press, 1953), p. 404. Lavi, Theodore. The Vatican’s Endeavours on Behalf of Roumanian Jewry during World War II. (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1961), pp. 1333-1346. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), pp. 567, 579, 586. Pawlikowski, John T. The Catholic response to the Holocaust: Institutional perspectives.  In Berenbaum, Michael, and Abraham J. Peck (Eds.). The Holocaust and History: The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed, and the Reexamined, pp. 551-565. (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1998), pp. 557-559.  Herzer, 1989, p. 236. Butnaru, I. C. The Silent Holocaust: Romania and its Jews. Lavi, T. Rumanian Jewry in World War II: Fight for Survival. (Jerusalem, 1965). Hebrew.  Lavi, T. (Ed.). Rumania, Vol. 1.  In Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities. (Jerusalem, 1969). Hebrew. Conway, John S. “Records and documents of the Holy See relating to the Second World War.” Yad Vashem Studies, 15 (1983), 327-345. Lavi, T. “Documents on the struggle of Rumanian Jewry for its rights during the Second World War.” Yad Vashem Studies, 4 (1960), 310. Lapide, Pinchas E. Three Popes and the Jews. (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1967), pp. 163-169.]


Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate to the United States

Archbishop Amleto Cicognani was the Apostolic Delegate to the United States.  He forwarded a request from Rabbi Stephen Wise for an appeal for intervention to help Jews in Bucharest, Romania.  During World War II, he transmitted a number of requests to the Vatican to intervene on behalf of persecuted Jews in Nazi occupied territories.  He also worked with Nahum Goldman of the World Jewish Congress.  He showed personal initiative and great sympathy on behalf of Jews.

[Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 39, 63-64, 67, 93, 97, 137, 140-141, 144-145, 152, 157-158, 175-177, 190.  Tittmann, Harold H., Jr., Harold H. Tittman III (Ed.). Inside the Vatican of Pius XII: The Memoir of an American Diplomat During World War II. (New York: Image Books Doubleday, 2004), pp. 47-48, 63, 77, 104, 144, 149-153, 158.]


Monsignore Gaetano Cicognani, Papal Nuncio in Madrid, 1943

Monsignore Gaetano Cicognani, the Papal Nuncio in Madrid, had given orders to issue protective papers to any Jew in southern France “who somehow could prove his Spanish affiliation, even in the most embryonic manner.”  His efforts were unsuccessful due to the surrender of the Italian government on September 8, 1943.

[Waagenaar, Sam. The Pope’s Jews. (La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishers, 1974), p. 382. Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), p. 66.]


Archbishop William Godfrey, Apostolic Delegate in London

Archbishop William Godfrey, the Apostolic Delegate in London, transmitted requests for the Vatican to intervene on behalf of persecuted Jews in Nazi occupied Europe.  Godfrey also received and transmitted information about Nazi persecutions.

[Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 56, 73, 92-93, 130-131, 139-140, 143, 158, 162, 175-177, 263-264.]


Father Köhler, Volunteer for Papal Nuncio, Budapest and Hegyeshalom, Hungary, 1944-45

Father Köhler was a Lazarist Catholic priest.  Father Köhler, working with the Ujváry group, fought to save the lives of Jewish deportees at the Hungarian border town of Hegyeshalom. Köhler filled out blank apostolic safe-conducts for Jewish deportees and sought their release. Köhler, along with Ujváry, Kiss and Biro, fought for and obtained the release of 4,700 Jews who were put on trucks and returned to Budapest.  Father Köhler was in constant danger from the Arrow Cross party, who called him “a servant of the Jewish Pope.”

[Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981). Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), pp. 373-374. Rosenfeld, Harvey. Raoul Wallenberg, Angel of Rescue: Heroism and Torment in the Gulag. (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books), chapter 5.]


Monsignor Ramiro Marcone, Vatican Representative in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, 1942-43?

Monsignor Ramiro Marcone, the Vatican representative in Zagreb, intervened via diplomatic channels to halt deportations of Jews.  His efforts initially were to no avail.

[Carpi, Daniel. "The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia." In Rescue Attempts During the Holocaust. Proceedings of the Second Yad Vashem International Historical Conference, edited by Y. Gutman & E. Zuroff. (Jerusalem, 1977), pp. 477, 490. Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 149-165, 202.  Tittmann, Harold H., Jr., Harold H. Tittman III (Ed.). Inside the Vatican of Pius XII: The Memoir of an American Diplomat During World War II. (New York: Image Books Doubleday, 2004), p. 51.]


Archbishop Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, Bulgaria, 1931-1934, and Greece-Turkey, 1934-1943

Archbishop Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (1881-1963), who later became Pope John XXIII, interceded with King Boris of Bulgaria on behalf of the Bulgarian Jews, and with the Turkish government on behalf of Jewish refugees who had fled to Turkey.  He also did his utmost to prevent the deportation of Greek Jews.  One of the main sources of information to the Vatican about the Holocaust was provided by Roncalli.  He provided reports about the annihilation of millions of Jews in Poland and Eastern Europe.  During the German occupation of Greece, he helped the local population and did his utmost to prevent the deportation of Greek Jews.   He also interceded with King Boris III on behalf of Bulgarian Jews.  According to numerous Jewish sources, Roncalli issued a form of Vatican protective paper to numerous eastern European Jewish refugees in the areas of Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Italy and France.  He also worked closely with US Ambassador Laurence Steinhardt, WRA representative Ira Hirschmann, Yishuv representative Chaim Barlas, and others in helping Jewish refugees come to Turkey.  In 1944, he was appointed Nuncio to Paris.  In 1953, he was appointed Patriarch of Venice.  In 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope.  He was responsible for instituting many of the reforms in the Catholic church, especially under his Vatican II Council.  These actions led to closer relations between Jews and Catholics.  Roncalli died in 1963.

[Giovanni XXIII.  Il Pastore.  Corrispondenza dal 1911 al 1963 con I preti del Sacro Cuore di Bergamo. (Padova, 1982), pp. 256, 261. Della Rocca, Roberto Morozzo. “Roncalli Diplomatico in Turchia e Grecia, 1935-1944” in Cristianesimo nella Storia, VIII/2. (1987), pp. 33-72, particularly pp. 55-56, 58.  Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Hoffmann, Peter. “Roncalli in the Second World War: Peace Initiatives, the Greek Famine and the Persecution of the Jews.” Journal of Ecclesiastical History, XL (1989), pp. 74-99. Rubin, Barry. Istanbul Intrigues, pp. 47-48, 93-94, 213-214. Hebblethwaite, Peter. Pope John XXIII: Shepherd of the modern world. (New York, 1985), pp. 141-143. Righi, Vittoro Ugo. Papa Giovanni sulle rive del Bosforo. (Padua, Italy, 1971).  Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 1065, 1070.  Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 43, 45, 61, 91-92, 94, 122-123, 161, 206. Hirschmann, Ira A. Life Line to a Promised Land. (New York: Vanguard Press, 1946), p. 70. Rothkirchen, Livia. “Vatican Policy and the ‘Jewish Problem’ in ‘Independent’ Slovakia (1939-1945).” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 44, 50. Cahill, Thomas. Pope John XXIII. (New York: Viking, 2002), pp. 135-137. Elliott, Lawrence. I will be called John: A biography of Pope John XXIII. (New York: Reader’s Digest Press, E. P. Dutton, 1973), pp. 125-170.  Lapide, Pinchas E. Three Popes and the Jews. (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1967), pp. 31, 145-146, 150, 152, 161, 165-167, 171, 179-181, 221-222, 301, 306-353. Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), p. 642. Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 335-336. Shaw, Stanford J. Turkey and the Holocaust: Turkey’s Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945. (New York: New York University Press, 1993), pp. 274-279, 297. Gilbert, Martin. Auschwitz and the Allies: A Devastating Account of How the Allies Responded to the News of Hitler’s Mass Murder. (New York: Henry Holt, 1981), p. 122. Hirschmann, Ira. Caution to the Winds. (New York: David McKay Co.), pp. 179-185. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 154, 200. Ofer, D. “The Rescue Activities of the Jewish Agency Delegation in Istanbul in 1943.” In Rescue Attempts during the Holocaust. Proceedings of the Second Yad Vashem International Historical Conference, edited by Y. Gutman and E. Zuroff, pp. 435-450. (Jerusalem, 1977). Conway, John S. “Records and documents of the Holy See relating to the Second World War.” Yad Vashem Studies, 15 (1983), 327-345. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), pp. 544, 658, 688. Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948).  Rotkirchen, L. Hurban Yahadut Slovakyah (1961) 29f. (Eng. Pt.).  Bea, A. The Church and the Jewish People (1966).  Gilbert, A. The Vatican Council and the Jews (1968).]


Monsignor Angelo Rotta,* Italy, Vatican diplomat in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Papal Nuncio (Ambassador) in Budapest, 1944-45

Monsignor Angelo Rotta was a major rescuer of Jews and was one of the few Papal nuncios to take direct action to save Jews.  At the time of his assignment in Budapest, he was 72 years old.  As a member of the Vatican diplomatic corps in Sofia, Bulgaria, he took measures to save Bulgarian Jews by issuing false baptismal certificates and visas for Jews to travel to Palestine.  Later, Rotta was the Dean of the diplomatic corps in Budapest.  He actively protested the deportation and murder of Hungarian Jews.  He eventually issued more than 15,000 safe conduct certificates to Jews who were protected by the Vatican neutrality.  Rotta also issued hundreds of safe conducts and baptismal certificates to Jews in labor camps, at deportation centers and on the death marches.  He set up and personally protected numerous safe houses throughout Budapest. Rotta was aided by his assistant, Father Gennaro Verolino.  The Vatican utilized numerous Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers in its rescue efforts.  Angelo Rotta received the title Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1997.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 717-718, 744, 795, 832-833, 862, 881, 914, 955, 967, 1015, 1034, 1051, 1067-1077, 1196, 1216-1225. Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 80-81, 84, 90, 153-154. Asaf, Uri. Christian support for Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary. In Braham, Randolph L. (Ed.) Studies on the Holocaust in Hungary, pp. 65-112. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), p. 97. Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), pp. 196-201, 226-227, 232-233, 304, 318-319, 354, 357-359, 364, 366-367, 371-373, 384, 397. Lévai, Jenö, translated by Frank Vajda. Raoul Wallenberg: His Remarkable Life, Heroic Battles and the Secret of his Mysterious Disappearance. (Melbourne, 1988, originally published in Hungarian in 1948), pp. 87-88, 161, 167. Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967). Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 194, 200, 207. Conway, John S. “Records and documents of the Holy See relating to the Second World War.” Yad Vashem Studies, 15 (1983), 327-345. Kramer, T. D. From Emancipation to Catastrophe: The Rise and Holocaust of Hungarian Jewry. (New York: University Press of America), pp. 247-286. Lévai, Jenö. Fehér könyv, Külföldi akciók zsidók megmentésére [White Book, Foreign Actions for the Rescuing of Jews.]. (Budapest: Officina, 1946). Meszlényi, Antal (Ed.). A magyar katolikus egyház és as emberi jogok védelme [The Hungarian Roman Catholic Church and the Protection of Human Rights]. (Budapest: Stephaneum, 1947).  (Includes an essay by Monsignor Angelo Rotta.) Péterffy Gedeon, a katolikus papnevelde elöljárójának nyilatkozata a magyar katolikus egyház szerepér öl a zsidótörvények és zsidóüldözések idején [The Statement of Gedeon Péterffy, the Leader of the Catholic Seminary During the Period of the Jewish Laws and Jewish Persecutions]. (Budapest, Haladás [Progress], December 29, 1945.  (Emphasizes the rescue activities of Angelo Rotta and Gennaro Verolino.) Rotta, Angelo. “A budapesti nunciatura diplomáciai akciója a zsidók érdekében [The diplomatic campaign of the Budapest Nunciature on behalf of the Jews].” In Antal Meszlényi (Ed.), A magyar katolikus egyház és as emberi jogok védelme [The Hungarian Roman Catholic Church and the Protection of Human Rights]. (Budapest: Stephaneum, 1947), pp. 21-30.  (The rescue of Jews in Budapest by Angelo Rotta and Gennaro Verolino.) György, Ferenc. A budai Szent Erbébet-kórház legendája [The Legend of Saint Elizabeth Hospital of Buda]. (Budapest: Világ [World], 1947. (Periodical article on the rescue activities of Angelo Rotta and Gennaro Verolino.) Ujvári, Sándor. “Szabálytalan önéletrajz [An Irregular Autobiography].” Menora, February 17, 1979. (The author’s rescue activities under the auspices of Rotta and Verolino.) Fein, Helen. Accounting for Genocide. (New York: Free Press, 1979), pp. 107-110. Anger, Per. Translated by David Mel Paul and Margareta Paul. With Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest: Memories of the War Years in Hungary. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1981).]


Father Gennaro Verolino,* Deputy to the Papal Nuncio in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45

Father Gennaro Verolino (b. 1906) was the deputy to Monsignor Angelo Rotta at the office of the Papal Nuncio in Budapest, Hungary.  Father Verolino went on numerous rescue missions in the field in support of Monsignor Rotta.  Verolino was instrumental in the establishment of the Vatican protected houses in Budapest.  Verolino supervised the many Vatican volunteers active in the rescue operations.  Verolino received the Per Anger Humanitarian Award in 2004.  Verolino was also awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations in 2007 for his outstanding efforts to save the Jews of Budapest.

[Élet és rodalom, Budapest (Hungarian weekly), March 22, 1985.  Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 717-718, 744, 795, 832-833, 862, 881, 914, 955, 967, 1015, 1034, 1051, 1067-1077, 1196, 1216-1225. Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), pp. 196-201, 226-227, 232-233, 304, 318-319, 354, 357-359, 364, 371-373, 383-384, 387-388, 397.  See documentary Passport to Life, 2002. Conway, John S. “Records and documents of the Holy See relating to the Second World War.” Yad Vashem Studies, 15 (1983), 327-345. Kramer, T. D. From Emancipation to Catastrophe: The Rise and Holocaust of Hungarian Jewry. (New York: University Press of America), pp. 247-286. Rosenfeld, Harvey. Raoul Wallenberg, Angel of Rescue: Heroism and Torment in the Gulag. (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books), chapter 5. Lévai, Jenö, translated by Frank Vajda. Raoul Wallenberg: His Remarkable Life, Heroic Battles and the Secret of his Mysterious Disappearance. (Melbourne, 1988, originally published in Hungarian in 1948), pp. 87-88, 161, 167. Lévai, Jenö. Fehér könyv, Külföldi akciók zsidók megmentésére [White Book, Foreign Actions for the Rescuing of Jews.]. (Budapest: Officina, 1946). Meszlényi, Antal (Ed.). A magyar katolikus egyház és as emberi jogok védelme [The Hungarian Roman Catholic Church and the Protection of Human Rights]. (Budapest: Stephaneum, 1947).  (Includes an essay by Monsignor Angelo Rotta.) Péterffy Gedeon, a katolikus papnevelde elöljárójának nyilatkozata a magyar katolikus egyház szerepér öl a zsidótörvények és zsidóüldözések idején [The Statement of Gedeon Péterffy, the Leader of the Catholic Seminary During the Period of the Jewish Laws and Jewish Persecutions]. (Budapest, Haladás [Progress], December 29, 1945.  (Emphasizes the rescue activities of Angelo Rotta and Gennaro Verolino.) Rotta, Angelo. “A budapesti nunciatura diplomáciai akciója a zsidók érdekében [The diplomatic campaign of the Budapest Nunciature on behalf of the Jews].” In Antal Meszlényi (Ed.), A magyar katolikus egyház és as emberi jogok védelme [The Hungarian Roman Catholic Church and the Protection of Human Rights]. (Budapest: Stephaneum, 1947), pp. 21-30.  (The rescue of Jews in Budapest by Angelo Rotta and Gennaro Verolino.) György, Ferenc. A budai Szent Erbébet-kórház legendája [The Legend of Saint Elizabeth Hospital of Buda]. (Budapest: Világ [World], 1947. (Periodical article on the rescue activities of Angelo Rotta and Gennaro Verolino.) Ujvári, Sándor. “Szabálytalan önéletrajz [An Irregular Autobiography].” Menora, February 17, 1979. (The author’s rescue activities under the auspices of Rotta and Verolino.) Fein, Helen. Accounting for Genocide. (New York: Free Press, 1979), pp. 107-110. Lévai, Jenö. Zsidósors Magyarországon [Jewish Fate in Hungary]. (Budapest: Magyar Téka, 1948), p. 441. Lévai, Jenö. Fehér könyv, Külföldi akciók zsidók megmentésére [White Book, Foreign Actions for the Rescuing of Jews.]. (Budapest: Officina, 1946), pp. 144-145. Lévai, Jenö. Hungarian Jewry and the Papacy. (London: Sands and Co., 1968), pp. 39, 44. Refers to M. Rotta and to Uditore Verolino by name.  15,000 safe passes issued (only 2,500 were permitted). Anger, Per. Translated by David Mel Paul and Margareta Paul. With Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest: Memories of the War Years in Hungary. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1981).]

 

Hungarian Volunteers Who Helped Vatican Representatives in Budapest

Tibor Báránszky,* Secretary in the Nunciature of Angelo Rotta, Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45

Tibor Báránszky, as a secretary in the Nunciature, was primarily responsible for safeguarding Vatican-protected buildings in the Pest international ghetto. Báránszky also distributed Vatican protective passes to Jews in the Obuda brickyards.  He also rescued Jews on the Hegyeshalom death marches.  He was awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in January 1979. 

[Asaf, 1990, p. 71. Rosenfeld, Harvey. Raoul Wallenberg, Angel of Rescue: Heroism and Torment in the Gulag. (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books), chapter 5.]


Dr. Istvan Biro, Lawyer, Deputy for Transylvania, International Red Cross Volunteer, Budapest, 1944-45.

Dr. Istvan Biro was a lawyer, member of the Hungarian Parliament and a volunteer worker for the International Red Cross in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45. Biro worked with Sándor Ujváry, who worked with apostolic nuncio Angelo Rotta and his assistant, Father Gennaro Verolino.  They filled out hundreds of blank Vatican safe-conducts and distributed them to Jews at the Hungarian checkpoint in Hegyeshalom. As part of the Ujváry group, Biro faked certificates of baptism and other documents for Jews to rescue them from the Arrow Cross. They also distributed truckloads of medical supplies and food to Jews on deportations.  According to contemporary records, 4,700 Jews were returned to Budapest from deportation.  The Ujváry group was in constant danger from the Arrow Cross.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981).]


Dr. Géza Kiss,* Hungarian Volunteer, International Red Cross, Budapest, 1944-45

Dr. Kiss was a volunteer worker for the International Red Cross in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45. Kiss worked with Sándor Ujváry, who worked with apostolic nuncio Angelo Rotta.  They filled out hundreds of blank Vatican safe-conducts and distributed them to Jews at the Hungarian checkpoint in Hegyeshalom. As part of the Ujváry group, Kiss faked certificates of baptism and other documents for Jews to rescue them from the Arrow Cross. They also distributed truckloads of medical supplies and food to Jews on deportations.  According to contemporary records, 4,700 Jews were returned to Budapest from deportation.  The Ujváry group was in constant danger from the Arrow Cross.  Dr. Kiss was designated Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1989.

[Asaf, Uri. Christian support for Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary. In Braham, Randolph L. (Ed.) Studies on the Holocaust in Hungary, pp. 65-112. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), p. 86.  Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 841, 1076.]


Sándor Újváry,* International Red Cross, Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45

Sándor Ujváry was a major rescuer and organizer for the International Red Cross in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45. He was one of the most successful rescuers of Jews in Budapest, especially rescuing Jews from the death marches to Hegyeshalom.  Ujváry worked with apostolic nuncio Angelo Rotta and took hundreds of blank Vatican safe-conducts, along with truck convoys of medical supplies and food, to Jews on deportations.  Further, Ujváry faked certificates of baptism and other documents for Jews to rescue them from the Arrow Cross. Ujváry was declared Righteous Among the Nations in 1985.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 841, 998, 1075-1076. Lévai, J. “Hungarian Jewry and the Papacy.” London: Sands and Company, 1968. Lévai, J. “Grey Book on the Rescuing of Hungarian Jews.” Budapest: Officina, 1946. Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), pp. 371-374. Ben-Tov, Arieh. Facing the Holocaust in Budapest: The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Jews in Hungary, 1943-1945. (Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1988). Rosenfeld, Harvey. Raoul Wallenberg, Angel of Rescue: Heroism and Torment in the Gulag. (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books), chapter 5.]


Rózsi Vájkay and Éva Vájkay, Head of the Safe Conduct Office in the Nunciature of Angelo Rotta, Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45

Rózsi Vájkay was the Head of the Safe Conduct Office in Monsignor Angelo Rotta’s Nunciature in Budapest, Hungary.  Éva Vájkay, who had received a safe conduct herself, volunteered to issue certificates of protection to all Jews who submitted baptismal papers, without checking whether they were authentic. Due to their connections to the neutral legations and consulates, the Vájkay’s were extremely effective in their rescue operations.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), p. 1075. Asaf, 1990, p. 106. Sztehló, Gábor. “In God’s Hand.” (Budapest: A Magyarországi Evangelikus Egyház Sajtóosztálya, 1986).]

 

Updated November 5, 2017