https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-06/paul-richard-gallagher-vatican-publishes-jews-series-online.html
https://archive.ph/QOqXd
‘Jews’ series of Historical Archives of Secretariat of State published online
Dated:23th of June 2022
At the request of Pope Francis, the virtual reproduction of a collection preserving the requests for help addressed to Pope Pius XII by Jews from all over Europe after the beginning of Nazi-Fascist persecution is now accessible to all. It consists of a total of170 volumes, or nearly 40,000 files. Only 70% of the total material will be initially available, but will later be supplemented with the final volumes currently being prepared.
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We thus learn that he was released from the Miranda camp the year after his appeal in a letter to the Pope, and that in 1945, he was finally able to join his mother in the United States. There, he continued his studies at University of California, Berkeley, MIT and University of Colorado. He then worked as a chemist in California. Thanks to ever more rich online resources, this time we can draw a breath of relief.
The documents
A special documentary heritage that distinguishes itself from other archival series, already from the name assigned to it: “Ebrei” (Jews). A heritage that is precious because it gathers the requests for help sent to Pope Pius XII by Jewish people, both the baptized and the non-baptized, after the beginning of Nazi and fascist persecution. A heritage which, at the request of Pope Francis, is now easily accessible to the entire world thanks to a project aimed at publishing the complete digitalized version of the archival series.
It is the “Ebrei” series of the Historical Archive of the Secretariat of State – Section for Relations with States and International Organizations (ASRS). The series of 170 volumes in total are part of the Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs Collection (AA.EE.SS.) related to the Pontificate of Pius XII — Part 1 (1939-1948), and already available for consultation since 2 March 2020, in the Reading Room of the Historical Archive, by worldwide scholars.
The then Sacred Congregation for the Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (from which the archival Collection gets its name), equivalent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, charged a diplomatic minutante (Msgr Angelo Dell’Acqua) to manage the requests for help that were addressed to the Pope from all over Europe, with the aim of providing all the help possible.
Requests could be made to obtain visas or passports to expatriate, find asylum, reunify families, obtain liberation from detention and transfers from one concentration camp to another, receive news regarding deported people, supplies of food or clothing, financial support, spiritual support and much more.
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(2nd part follows)