Robert Katz - The Battle for Rome: The Germans, the Allies, the Partisans, and the Pope, September 1943-June 1944

Carlo DEste, The New York Times Book Review

[Katz] skillfully weaves into his narrative the experiences of a large, fascinating cast of characters. [He] draws on persuasive new evidence to condemn unequivocally the Faustian pact between the Vatican and the Germans, in which the pope remained silent throughout the whole range of Nazi and Fascist brutality in Rome. His book is a poignant, dramatic, and definitive account of a tragic time, and it is likely to reopen the longstanding controversy over the role of the Vatican and Pope Pius XII during World War II

John Whiteclay Chambers II, The Washington Post

An extraordinarily detailed account of the nine-month German occupation of the Italian capital. Provides fresh insight into a complex saga of brutality, inefficiency, expediency and betrayal, leavened with occasional acts of moral courage and heroism.

Richard Cohen, Commonweal

Katz is a gifted reporter and something of a brilliant sleuth. Although there have been many books on this period, he has unearthed important new material

Peter Bridges, Washington Times

Robert Katz has written a well documented book about a wide range of people under wars pressures both eloquent and moving.

James Ward Lee, Fort Worth-Dallas Star-Telegram

This detailed, almost day-to-day history of the months when Rome was teetering between fascism and liberation turns out to be a gripping account that will satisfy anyone remotely interested in World War II.

Kirkus Reviews

In the best tradition of Harrison Salisbury and Cornelius Ryan, novelist/ historian Katz captures a tumultuous nine months in Romes long history, with plenty of circumstantial detail and incidents involving many actors. [a] strong, swiftly moving narrative. An episodic reconstruction, complete with dazzling dramatis personae, of Rome under the Nazi occupation and the Allied drive to free it.

Michael Phayer, author of The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930-1965

The Battle for Rome combines exhaustive historical research with literary talent. A great read.

Library Journal

Using some recently released OSS records, Katz has produced a riveting account of the struggle for Rome in 1943-44. An excellent work providing a rare look inside the Italian resistance movement.

Susan Zuccotti, author of Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy

With his customary lively and graceful prose, Robert Katz provides a sweeping yet detailed and well-documented description of the battle for Rome during the Second World War. All the players are here: the Allied forces slowly plodding north; the German army defending with fearful determination; cruel and vicious Nazi and Fascist fanatics; young Italian partisans and the American and British agents sent to support them; Jews caught in a deadly trap; and German diplomats and Vatican prelates, including Pope Pius XII, anxious for different reasons to preserve the Eternal City. This is a book that is difficult to put down.

Publishers Weekly

Expanding upon his classic account of the 1944 Ardeatine Caves massacre, Death in Rome, Katz presents a vivid, well-researched history of Germanoccupied Rome. Combined with Katzs broad historical knowledge and his personal experiences living in Rome, these narratives create an engrossing portrait of a confused, tragic period in Italys history.

Booklist

Challenging research presented fluidly, and Katzs fascination with a key moment for a fascinating city shines through.

Jos M. Sanchez, America

A well-written and extensively documented narrative.

Istvn Dek, The New Republic

Robert Katzs very fine book is rich in dramatic accounts and challenging analyses. Written with great journalistic verve, Katzs book is also remarkably well documented.

ALSO BY ROBERT KATZ

Death in Rome

Black Sabbath: A Journey Through a Crime Against Humanity

The Fall of the House of Savoy

A Giant in the Earth

The Cassandra Crossing

Ziggurat

The Spoils of Ararat

Days of Wrath: The Ordeal of Aldo Moro

Il Caso Moro (with G. Ferrara & A. Balducci)

Love is Colder than Death: The Life & Times of Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Naked by the Window: The Fatal Marriage of Carl Andre and Ana Mendieta

Dossier Priebke: Anatomia di un Processo

THE GERMANS, THE ALLIES, THE PARTISANS, AND THE POPE, SEPTEMBER 1945-JUNE 1944

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Copyright 2003 by Robert Katz

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

First Simon & Schuster paperback edition 2004

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For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-800-456-6798 or business@simonandschuster.com

Maps copyright Jeff Ward

Designed by Karolina Harris

Manufactured in the United States of America

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Katz, Robert, date.

The battle for Rome: the Germans, the allies, the partisans and the Pope, September 1943-June 1944 / Robert Katz

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.

1. World War, 1939-1945ItalyRome. 2. Rome (Italy)History1870-1945.

D763.I82 R62719 2003

940.54215632dc21 2003045677

ISBN 0-7432-1642-3

ISBN 0-7432-5808-8 (Pbk)

ISBN-13: 978-0-743-25808-1

eISBN-13: 978-0-743-21733-0

To Beverly, once more, with love

GIORDANO BRUNO, CANDELAIO, 1582

Ed to a chi dedicarr ilmio Candelaio? A chi, o gran destino, tipiace chio intitoli il mio bel paranimfo, ti mio bon corifeo? A Sua Sanit? A Sua Maest Cesarea? no. A Sua Serenit? no. A Sua Altezza, Signoria illustrissima e reverendissima? non, no. Per mia f, non prencipe o cardinale, re, imperadore o papa che mi levarr questa candela di mano, in questo sollennissimo offertorio. A voi tocca, a voi si dona voi, cultivatrice del campo dellanimo mio, [a voi] che, con acqua divina, che dal fonte del vostro spirto deriva, mabbeveraste Iintelletto. Pero, qualunque s il punto di questa sera chaspetto godete, dunque, e, si possete, state sana, edamate chi vama.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I WISH to thank the following people who contributed to the realization of this book in one way or another, and often in more ways than one: Anna Baldinotti, Greg Bradsher, Richard Breitman, Agostino Cardelli, Mauro Clementi, Saskia Cornes, Marika Cuccaro, Ian Drury, Vincenzo Frustaci, Wayne Furman, Annabella Gioia, Massimiliano Griner, David Hapgood, Antonino Intelisano, Alan Katz, Howard Katz, Jonathan Katz, Ninfa Colasanto Katz, Stephen Katz, Lutz Klinkhammer, Johanna Li, Gemma Luzzi, Susan Colgan Maison, Giuseppe Mogavero, Margaret Mushinski Ochs, Oscar Ochs, Massimo Palazzeschi, Antonio Parisella, Daniela Petracco, Michael Phayer, Augusto Pompeo, Alessandro Portelli, Alex Rosenberg, Carole Rosenberg, Margherita Ruggiero, Elvira Sabatini Paladini, Dario Scatolini, Francesco Sinatti, Michael Sissons, Judd Tully, Romina Zamponi, Annalisa Zanuttini, Susan Zuccotti.