The National Catholic Welfare Conference reported today that the Osservatore Romano, official organ of the Vatican, has recently carried several front page editorials protesting against the persecution of Jews in Nazi occupied Italy.
One editorial vehemently assailed a German decree ordering the arrest of all Jews and confiscation of their property “to offset the damages resulting from enemy air incursions.” The Vatican newspaper pointed out that the Nazi “explanation” for the arrest of the Jews is specious and that the decree violates all concepts of humanity and the legal rights of the Jews.
Another editorial denied that the Mussolini puppet National Republican Fascist Government had any legal right to disfranchise Italian Jews and place them in the category of “enemy aliens.” It also pointed out that Jews are being treated even worse than “enemy aliens” because “no enemy alien is threatened with the complete confiscation of his property, this confiscation is pronounced only in the case of Jews; and it is complete confiscation in spite of the fact that the government decree regards the Jews only temporarily– for the duration–as enemies.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
