Rome, the ‘Eternal City’, had a peculiar war. With Italy an axis nation it was a target for allied bombers but in the centre is the Vatican, home of the Pope. A neutral state within the capital of a belligerent nation. In deference to the Pope allied bombing operations were curtailed, perhaps more than they might otherwise have have been.
When the Italians secretly brokered an armistice with the allies in September 1943, Rome was occupied by the Germans. With the Germans in charge, Italian men would be deported as forced labour and the Jewish population of Rome rounded up to be sent to concentration camps.
At the same time the Vatican became a magnet for escaped Prisoners of War who would seek refuge inside the walls of the holy city.
I’m joined by Victor Failmezger.
Victor is a retired US Naval Officer who served in Rome as the Assistance Naval Attaché. He is also the author of Rome City in Terror: The Nazi Occupation 1943-44.
224 - The Theory and Practice of Command in the British and German Armies
223 - Landing Craft Infantry
222 - The D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations
221 - Training the Indian Army
220 - The Archer: Reversing to Victory
219 - D-Day Tourism
218 - Target Hong Kong
217 - How the Luftwaffe Lost the skies over Germany
216 - The Latvian Legion
215 - The Power of Japanese Propaganda
214 - Stan Hollis VC and the Green Howards on D-Day
213 - The British Empire and Commonwealth’s War Against Imperial Japan
212 - Invisible Generals
211 - HG-76: Taking the Fight to Hitler's U-boats
210 - The Battle for Italy, 1943
209 - Hospital Trains of WWII
208 - 2SAS and Bill Sterling
207 - Tank Warfare in North Africa, 1942-43
206 - The Extraordinary Life of Journalist Wallace Carroll
205 - Victory to Defeat: The British Army 1918-40
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