- Description
- Consists of digital images of selected records from the Archives of the Apostolic Nunciature in Romania related to the Papacy of Pope Pius XII from the files of Mons. Andrea Cassulo and Mons. Gerald Patrick Aloysius O’Hara, papal nuncio and regent to Romania (AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania). The collection features communications to and from the Secretary of State of the Holy See as well as petitions and appeals to the Nunciature. Records include reports, correspondence, printed material, and photographs documenting political and religious questions and assistance to Jews, refugees, prisoners of war, and civilian internees. Subjects include World War II, persecution of Jews and of Catholic clergy, emigration and deportation, refugees, baptisms of Jews, petitions by Jews and non-Aryan Catholics, and Mons. Cassulo's visits to prisoner and internment camps.
In terms of Jews, of particular note are:
box 91, fasc. 502: Questioni di assistenza e varie: Sussidi; Beneficenza del Santo Padre a vittime di guerra; Invio di latte in polvere (1937-1947)
ff. 1-22 "The Holy Father's Christmas donation" to the "prisoners of war", in favor of the Jewish "civilian concentrates" in Transnistria, of the "war casualties" for the bombing of Ploeşti. f. 16: Letter from the President of the Jewish Community in Romania, N. Gingold, dated February 11, 1944 acknowledging receipt of a sum of 1,353,000 Lei from the Holy See, "Ministerul Afacerilor Straine, ne-a pus la dispozitie suma de Lei 1.353.000.- pe care Suveranul Pontif, a binevoits'o doneze pentru ajutoravea evreilor din Transnistria." ["The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made available to us the sum of 1,353,000 Lei, which the Sovereign Pontiff kindly donated to help the Jews of Transnistria."]
box 92, fasc. 503: Questioni di assistenza e varie: Ebrei 1940-1944 (1940-1947) [Requests for assistance and various: Jews 1940-1944 (1940-1947)], fasc. 506: Assistenza agli ebrei (1940-1947) [Assistance for Jews (1940-1947)], ff. 1-1015, which features the following folders:
ff. 1-237 Juridical and social situation of the Jews in the period October 1940 to December 1941;
ff. 238-244 Holy See and non-Aryan civilians 1943 (Holy Father grant);
ff. 245-425 Cases of Jewish petitions presented to the Nuncio in the period November 20, 1941 - March 2, 1943, including from baptized Jews;
ff. 426-429 Radu Lecca Commissioner General for Jewish Affairs (September 9-10, 1943);
ff. 430-442 On the question whether to partially suspend Vatican message service for Jews (April - November 1943);
ff. 443-526 Appeals and petitions of non-Aryan Catholics (February 1942 - March 1944);
ff. 526a-587 Jews in Transnistria (August 8, 1942 - March 21, 1944), including lists of Baptized Jews;
ff. 588-625 Cases recommended or reported to the Nunciature by the Secretariat of State on Jewish families and individuals (January 16, 1942 - July 26, 1944);
ff. 626-892 Cases recommended or reported to the Nunciature by the Secretariat of State on Jewish families and individuals. Includes names lists of baptized Jews and Jews of the Greco-Catholic faith in Bukovina and Cernauti; an appeal signed by several dozen baptized Jews to the Nuncio, August 27, 1942; Communication to and from the Nuncio with Card. Maglione.
ff. 893-987 "Special Matters 1942, 1943, 1944. 1944: Jewish Displacement from the Capital 1944 Jewish Emigration Palestine 1944 Jews persecuted in Hungary."
ff. 988-1014 Jews after 23.VIII.'44 [August 23, 1944]
Other documentation includes:
- reports from the Nuncio to the Secretariat of State on the political, religious and social situation related to the Nunciature during the years 1940 to 1945, with a summary of the "previous period going back to October 15, 1936, the date of my arrival in Bucharest" (b. 68, fasc. 362, ff. 1-59 and fasc. 363, ff. 1-111);
- a memorandum from Mr. [Theodosian] Carada on the question of the Jews in Romania (b. 69, fasc. 365, ff. 122-133);
- reports from the Nuncio to the Secretariat of State, among other topics: news about the Groza government, news about Monsignor Angelo Rotta, nuncio in Hungary, political tensions and trials for atrocities committed against Jews, etc. (b. 69, fasc. 367, ff. 1-195);
- communication with and about Marshal Ion Antonescu and Minister Mihai Antonescu (September 1940 - August 1944) (1940-1944) (b. 71, fasc. 377, ff. 1-118);
- requests to the Nuncio from the Bishop of Timisoara, Agostino Pacha including whether to accept "the government offer of a property expropriated from the Jews" (b. 77, fasc. 417, ff. 81-103);
- United Church-General Issues (1937-1947): "Miscellaneous," including: letters from Senator Theodosian Carada to Card. Eugene Tisserant, with memo on the baptism of Jews (b. 82, fasc. 462, ff. 396-537);
- Christmas gift of the Holy Father to the victims of the war, prisoners etc. (December 1943) (1943-1944), including for Jewish civilians (b. 91, fasc. 502, ff. 1-22);
- Papers of Bishop Áaron Márton II (1930-1949), including circulars of Card. Justinian Serédi and others of Bishop Márton on the Jewish question (b. 107, fasc. 563, ff. 1-927).
The collection comprises records selected for digitization by representatives of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum from the Vatican Apostolic Archives based on perceived relevance to the history of the Holocaust and its aftermath.
- Alternate Title
- Archivio della Nunziatura Apostolica in Romania (1939-1950)
- Date
-
inclusive:
1877-1949
bulk:
1930-1949
- Collection Creator
- Andrea Cassulo
Gerald P. O'Hara
- Biography
-
Mons. Andrea Cassulo (1869-1952) was born in Castelletto d'Orba, Italy, and ordained a priest in 1893. He was appointed bishop of Fabriano e Matelica in 1914 and became the titular archbishop of Leontopolis in Augustamnica in 1921. He served as apostolic delegate to Egypt from 1921 to 1927 and to Canada from 1927 to 1936. Mons. Cassulo served as Papal nuncio in Romania during the period of World War II. During the Holocaust, Mons. Cassulo worked to aid Jews, particularly those who had been baptized Catholic. He appealed to Antonescu for the limitation of deportations and protested legislation forbidding the conversion of Jews to Christianity. In 1944, the Chief Rabbi of Bucharest praised Mons. Cassulo’s work on behalf of Romania's Jews. Mons. Cassulo was named Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey in 1947. Yad Vashem recognizes Mons. Cassulo as Righteous among the Nations.
(Indice 1243C - Archivio della Nunziatura Apostolica in Romania (1936-1950) by Giuseppe Umberto Maria Lo Bianco, 2010)
Mons. Gerald Patrick Aloysius O'Hara (1895-1963) was born in Scranton, PA and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1920. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and titular bishop of Heliopolis in Phoenicia in 1929, and appointed bishop of Savannah in 1935. Mons. O'Hara was named regent of the apostolic nunciature to the Socialist Republic of Romania in Bucharest in 1947. During his three years in Romania, O'Hara repeatedly denounced the Communist government for its persecution of Roman Catholics and Greek Catholics. In July 1950, Romanian officials accused O'Hara of spying for the United States, the United Kingdom, and Turkey. Mons. O'Hara denied the allegations but was expelled from Romania. Mons. O'Hara was granted the personal title of archbishop in 1950, appointed apostolic nuncio to Ireland in 1951, and named apostolic delegate to Great Britain in 1954. He died in London while in office of a heart attack on July 16, 1963 at the age of 68.
(Indice 1243C - Archivio della Nunziatura Apostolica in Romania (1936-1950) by Giuseppe Umberto Maria Lo Bianco, 2010)
(Indice 1263 - Archivio della Nunziatura Apostolica in Gran Bretagna (1938-1954), compiled by Angela Chiriatti, Antonella Di Domenico, Simona Durante, Anna Gagliano, Simona Giancristofaro, Maria Rita Giubilo, Marcello Micci, Federica Palumbo, Palma Stella Polcaro, Alessandra Remoli; introduction and final revision by Anna Gagliano, 2013.)
