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.
206 - The Extraordinary Life of Journalist Wallace Carroll
205 - Victory to Defeat: The British Army 1918-40
204 - Armour in the Pacific
203 - The Battle of Britain, July 1940
202 - Leningrad, 1941-42
201 - Japanese Americans in WWII
200 - The Life of Mrs George S Patton
199 - Patton, August - December 1944
198 - Kesselring
197 - Kohima
196 - Winthrop Bell: Cracking the Code
195 - Their Finest Hour Project
194 - The Battle of Leyte Gulf
193 - London Underground
192 - 'The Angels', The 11th Airborne Division
191 - US Glider Pilots of World War II
190 - Mussolini's Last 10 Days
189 - The Stalingrad Airlift
188 - Company of Heroes
187 - Desert Armour: Tank Warfare in North Africa
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