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Battle for Rome - The Germans, the Allies, the Partisans, and the Pope, September 1943-June 1944 (Paperback)
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Battle for Rome - The Germans, the Allies, the Partisans, and the Pope, September 1943-June 1944 (Paperback)
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In September 1943, the German army marched into Rome, beginning an
occupation that would last nine months until Allied forces
liberated the ancient city. During those 270 days, clashing
factions -- the occupying Germans, the Allies, the growing
resistance movement, and the Pope -- contended for control over the
destiny of the Eternal City. In "The Battle for Rome, " Robert Katz
vividly recreates the drama of the occupation and offers new
information from recently declassified documents to explain the
intentions of the rival forces.
One of the enduring myths of World War II is the legend that Rome
was an "open city," free from military activity. In fact the German
occupation was brutal, beginning almost immediately with the first
roundup of Jews in Italy. Rome was a strategic prize that the
Germans and the Allies fought bitterly to win. The Allied advance
up the Italian peninsula from Salerno and Anzio in some of the
bloodiest fighting of the war was designed to capture the Italian
capital.
Dominating the city in his own way was Pope Pius XII, who used his
authority in a ceaseless effort to spare Rome, especially the
Vatican and the papal properties, from destruction. But historical
documents demonstrate that the Pope was as concerned about the
Partisans as he was about the Nazis, regarding the Partisans as
harbingers of Communism in the Eternal City. The Roman Resistance
was a coalition of political parties that agreed on little beyond
liberating Rome, but the Partisans, the organized military arm of
the coalition, became increasingly active and effective as the
occupation lengthened. Katz tells the story of two young Partisans,
Elena and Paolo, who fought side by side, became lovers, and later
played a central role in the most significant guerrilla action of
the occupation. In retaliation for this action, the Germans
committed the Ardeatine Caves Massacre, slaying hundreds of Roman
men and boys. The Pope's decision not to intervene in that atrocity
has been a source of controversy and debate among historians for
decades, but drawing on Vatican documents, Katz authoritatively
examines the matter.
Katz takes readers into the occupied city to witness the desperate
efforts of the key actors: OSS undercover agent Peter Tompkins,
struggling to forge an effective spy network among the Partisans;
German diplomats, working against their own government to save Rome
even as they condoned the Nazi repression of its citizens; Pope
Pius XII, anxiously trying to protect the Vatican at the risk of
depending on the occupying Germans, who maintained order by
increasingly draconian measures; and the U.S. and British
commanders, who disagreed about the best way to engage the enemy,
turning the final advance into a race to be first to take Rome.
"The Battle for Rome" is a landmark work that draws on newly
released documents and firsthand testimony gathered over decades to
offer the finest account yet of one of the most dramatic episodes
of World War II.
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