Details of the German terror against the Jews of Rome are published in the Swedish press today, revealing that most of the Jews in the Italian capital, including women and children, have been arrested by Gestapo units and deported to an unknown destination.
Based on reports by Swedish citizens who reached Stockholm this week from Rome, the newspapers confirm that the German authorities last month imposed a collective fine of fifty kilograms of gold on the Jewish Community of Rome and that Pope Pius personally contributed twelve kilograms of gold to meet the fine which was demanded as ransom for prominent Jews seized by the-Nazis.
Although it was assumed that by paying the ransom, the Jews in Rome would be spared further persecutions, mass-raids on Jews soon followed. Thousands of them were taken from their homes and transported in Gestapo trucks to deportation centers. The Italian population is highly indignant over the German terror, but is helpless to intervene, the arriving Swedes said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
