Posted on 05/22/2017 2:24:52 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
DUBLIN As the Gestapo surrounds the palace of an Italian anti-Fascist aristocrat, an Irish priest dashes to the cellar. He is wanted by the Nazis for his role in the daring rescues of Jews, POWs and refugees, but this time it seems there is no escape. Miraculously, a coal delivery being made to the palace offers the perfect cover the cleric blackens his face, hides his cassock and slips away to freedom through the narrow cobbled streets of Rome.
This dramatic scene, recreated in the 1983 movie The Scarlet and the Black starring Gregory Peck as Monsignor Hugh OFlaherty, was just one of a number of close shaves for the doughty Irish priest and Vatican diplomat during his heroic campaign to thwart the Gestapo in the Eternal City during World War II.
Monsignor OFlaherty left the safety of the Vatican to run his escape line, said Jerry OGrady, chairman of the Monsignor Hugh OFlaherty Memorial Society in the priests hometown in Killarney, Ireland. The Gestapo had a price on his head and they tried to kidnap him many times.
The Society is now preparing an application to Yad Vashem to have their local hero, who is credited with concealing hundreds of Jews from the Gestapo, listed as Righteous Among the Nations.
OFlaherty grew up the son of a golf steward in Killarney, Ireland, and his skill at the game helped ease his way into Roman society. The priest played with social luminaries such as Mussolinis son-in-law Count Galeazzo Ciano, as well as the former Spanish King Alphonso. All his connections were to become very useful when he took on the unforeseen mantle of rescuer.
In the last years of the war, as the Italian government collapsed OFlaherty organized a group of priests, anti-Fascist and diplomats to help shelter Jews, escaped POWs and refugees. He set up a network of safe havens in rented apartments and religious houses throughout Rome.
Lieutenant General John C.H. Lee presenting the US Medal of Freedom to Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty. (Courtesy/Memorial Society)
Claudio-Ilan Jacobi, now living in Israel, is one of the Jews OFlaherty saved. He was away from the ghetto when the Gestapo raided it.
I saw the Monsignor many times, Jacobi wrote in his statement for Yad Vashem. He helped my mother, my grandparents and me find refuge from the Nazis.
He got false papers for us from the Vatican as well as food cards, Jacobi said. I remember the great appreciation my mother had for all he did.
On one occasion OFlaherty even threatened the doorman of Jacobis apartment with excommunication for speaking too freely about the Jewish family hiding inside.
The test for recognition by Yad Vashem is very rigorous
The test for recognition by Yad Vashem is very rigorous, said OGrady, so we are continuing to try to trace Jewish survivors or their families from the city.
As the Nazis began transporting Roman Jews to the camps, OFlaherty walked Ines Ghiron and her friends through the Gestapo-filled streets relying on false Vatican papers for safe passage. Ghiron wrote in her memoirs that they all arrived safely at a convent in Monteverde run by Canadian nuns.
Another such episode was recorded by Jewish POW John Furman, whom OFlaherty hid for months. The British Lieutenant wrote in his autobiography that he never looked on OFlaherty as a priest, but as a friend who made other peoples troubles his own. Jerry O'Grady, chairman of the Monsignor O'Flaherty Memorial Society with bronze statue of the Monsignor in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. (Courtesy/Don McMonigle)
Jerry OGrady, chairman of the Monsignor OFlaherty Memorial Society with bronze statue of the Monsignor in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. (Courtesy/Don McMonigle)
After the Gestapo became aware of OFlahertys activities they painted a white line across St. Peters Square, dividing the neutral Vatican from Fascist-controlled Rome. They placed guards nearby ready to snatch the Monsignor if he ever crossed. As a result OFlaherty became known locally as the Scarlet Pimpernel because of the many disguises he donned during his forays into the capital.
The modest monsignor only came to public attention in the 1960s when books about his exploits were published.
Monsignor OFlaherty has already been honored by the American, British and Italian governments, said OGrady. He received the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) and the US Medal of Freedom but he has never been officially recognized by the State of Israel.
Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental, who was the keynote speaker at the 2013 Annual Humanitarian Award named in honor of OFlaherty, told The Times of Israel that If he saved one Jew its as if he saved thousands.
The New York Jewish Museum has organized trips to visit Irelands historical and scenic highlights, and describes OFlaherty as Irelands Oskar Schindler. The museum includes a visit to his hometown in their itinerary.
When he saw how the Nazis were treating the Jews he knew which side he had be on
In 2013 the Monsignor Hugh OFlaherty Society erected a life size bronze statue in his honor. The unveiling was attended by former Israeli ambassador Boaz Modai. The memorial bears OFlahertys personal motto, God has no Country.
Monsignor OFlaherty was an Irish Republican, but when he saw how the Nazis were treating the Jews he knew which side he had to be on, explained OGrady. Thats where his motto originated.
After the war Gestapo colonel Herbert Kappler, who tried to capture and kill OFlaherty, was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life in prison. True to his own nature, however, OFlaherty visited him many times and the Nazi later converted to Catholicism.
OFlaherty suffered a stroke in 1959 and retired to live with his sister in Kerry. He died in 1963 just as his exploits were becoming the stuff of legend.
“just one of a number of close shaves for the doughty Irish priest”
;-)
Sadly Ireland like most of Western Europe is devolving into post Christian neo paganism. Wonder if they will continue to produce such men.
Thanks for catching that, and calling it out to me.
There’s an Irishman made of some pretty good stuff.
Aye.
“:^)
Pinging Salvation and NYer to this edifying story.
Rare courage there, and it surfaces in some surprising places. One such hero was named Goering. Not Hermann, under whose signature the Final Solution was codified. His brother Albert, whose exploits didn't quite meet the standards of proof of Yad Vashem, more's the pity. But neither of these guys did it for any reward on this earth.
“The Scarlet and the Black” is one of my desert island DVDs. It is one of Gregory Peck’s best performances.
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Bttt.
5.56mm
Catholic ping!
Thank you so much for posting this story, which I was unfamiliar with...
The book recounts how the Cardinal of Milan also help hide Jews and move them on to Switzerland. So the Church was quite active in sheltering Jews and other enemies of the Nazis, as much as it possibly could be.
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