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the Po clearly condemned pe cution based on race, and he condemned N i statism and the· denial of individual worth. The Jews were not men tioned by name, but the me ge was clear. In April 1943 the Po i ued a me ge to the Slovak gove ment condemning r ution of Jews s cifically. In April 1 4, Hun ry, which was allied with the Axi w told to round up Hun rian Jew The Po i ued a strong statement con demning the action, and the Hungarian ve ment refu d to carry out the order.
But the Po did far more than i e s temen When Adolf Eich mann ordered a death march of 20, Je from Buda st to Ther ien stadt for extermination, Cardinal redi and the Papal Nuncio or relief vehicles to accompany marchers with f and medicine. They car ried veral thou nd blank papal e conduct pa and r ued a ut 2 Jew The Nuncio r nally hid 2 Jews in his palace. Pius in structed churches, monasteri and convents in Rome to take in Jew The were extra-te itorial pro y of the Vatican w ch the Italian lice could not enter. Altogether, 55 monasteries and 1 convents in Rome were hiding Jew Many Jews found refuge in the Vati n it lf, cluding Dr. Zolli, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, who came a Catho c after the w . The Pope nt letters by hand to Italian bishops calling u n them to hide and r ue Jews. One of the main cities where th w done w A isi, where the Franci ans c rdinated hiding of Jews disgui d reli ous in cloisters, and printed fal identity pa rs for them enabling them to e ca past the American line In Italy, in fact, the ma rity of Jews were ve The Po al t up Del m, an or ni tion for a istance to r eign Jew Four thou nd received aid from this or tion
To put the Po 's actions in rs tive, here is a statement by a Jewish leader, Pinchas E pids, Israeli Consul in Ital he tholic Church ved more Jewish liv during the war than all the other churches, religious institutions and re ue or ni tions put together. Its record stands in startling contrast to the achievements of the Inte tional Red Cr and the Western Dem raci ... The Holy , the Nunci and the entire tholic Church ved me 4 , Jews from certain death."
