Robert DiBiase – Chair – New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission
Cav. Gilda Rorro, Ed.D. – Chair – Curriculum Committee
Doug Cervi – Executive Director- NJ Commission on Holocaust Education
The classroom lessons Righteous Italian Heroes, Italy and the Holocaust, along with a lesson on Primo Levi, give students ample opportunities to explore this very dark period. They also provide glimpses of light, where Italian citizens risked life and limb to protect and rescue their Jewish fellow Italians.
As a former socialist, Mussolini had long been an ardent atheist and very hostile to the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, to eliminate strong opposition to his regime, in 1929 Mussolini entered the Italian Concordat (The Lateran Treaty) with Pope Pius XI and the Catholic Church. The Concordat established the one square mile around St. Peter’s Basilica as an independent nation.
Of all the horrific events that took place during the World War II era, none is more grotesque nor as unsettling than the Holocaust.
Hitler and the Nazis treacherously continued negotiations with Pius XII to keep him from publicly and specifically condemning their regime. Keeping Pius quiet seemed very important to the Nazis, as they strung the Pontiff along until world opinion no longer mattered.
The debate continues whether Pius XII did not do enough to oppose Nazism or to help Jews during the Holocaust. As more records are revealed and found, the debate will continue, though significant evidence of Vatican assistance for Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis continues to be found. The question will remain whether he had done enough.
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