The Vatican Pimpernel

by Brian Fleming

  Eventually he came back with Secundo Constantini who was a member of the O’Flaherty organisation. He escorted them to the disused British Embassy where he and his family were living on the first floor and they stayed there for about ten days.

  One day … we were exploring the Embassy when we came upon the Ambassador’s wine cellar. It had an enormous wood and iron door which was securely padlocked and bore a Swiss Government seal. Obviously the Swiss had taken over the stocks when the Ambassador had been forced to leave and they had sealed the cellar for the duration of the war. Through a barred grille near the top of the door we could see row upon row of many different kinds of wines and liqueurs. Nearest to us, only about six feet away from the grille, was a long line of champagne bottles lying on their sides. The temptation was great, in fact too great. We foraged around until we found a good stout curtain rod and to the end of this we fixed a piece of strong cord which we tied into a slip knot. Carefully we thrust the rod through the grille until the slip knot settled over the neck of the nearest champagne bottle. Gently we removed the rod away until the slip knot was tight. Then gradually we eased the bottle off the shelf. As it dropped over the edge it nearly fell to the ground under its own weight before we were able to arrest its fall and haul it through the grille. Several other bottles followed and that night we had quite a celebration with the Secundo family who, although worried about the consequences, thoroughly appreciated the excellent wines. I have often smiled since at the thought of the head-scratching that must have gone on when the cellar was unsealed after the war, and the stock was checked.7

  A few days later Secundo became aware that the Embassy was being watched, so Br Robert was sent to move the two Britons to a nearby Lithuanian Seminary. Again, their stay lasted about ten days when they had to be moved again because of the fear of a search being carried out. This time, they were brought to the apartment of Renzo and Adrienne Lucidi where they met three other prisoners of war, Simpson, Furman and Wilson. The apartment was too small to cater for them all, so Garrad-Cole found himself moved that evening to the French seminary. Again, some time later due to the fear of searches he was moved to live with a retired Italian Colonel and his wife on the outskirts of Rome. By this time Garrad-Cole was aware that the brains behind all of these movements was O’Flaherty, whom he had previously met when the latter visited the camp at Sulmona.

  He used to accompany the Pope’s representative on visits to the camp. During these visits we used to try to get him on one side to give us the latest news on the war. Invariably he had his pockets stuffed with cigarettes which he would slip to us when the Italians were not looking.8

  He decided to ask Br Robert to arrange for him to meet O’Flaherty. A few days later, he arrived at St Peter’s and explained to the Guard Commander that he had an appointment with Monsignor O’Flaherty.

  After looking me up and down, he gave me a wink and led me down a passageway between two buildings and then into another building and up a flight of stairs to the monsignore’s apartment.9

  Garrad-Cole was surprised when he entered the apartment to find some of the escapees that he had previously met at the Lucidis’ apartment.

  We had an amusing tea party and I remember that the Monsignor produced a bottle of superb cognac for us before we left. During the course of the conversation I mentioned to him that I was living on the outskirts of Rome with an Italian Colonel, who had been most kind, but who, unfortunately, was beginning to feel the strain of hiding two prisoners in his home. ‘I think I can help you’ said the Irishman shaking my hand. ‘I will let you know in a day or two’.10

  Within a couple of days he was moved to live with a marchesa, who came from the north of Italy but had an apartment in Rome.

  The Italian Resistance in its various forms had begun to reassert itself and, in response, the Germans had replaced their original military Governor, Stahel, with Maelzer who took a far stronger line. On the evening of 18 December, one group of the Resistance bombed a favourite haunt of Nazis and Fascists, killing eight German soldiers. An attack was also carried out on a cinema where twice-weekly showings were exclusively for the occupying troops. On 19 Sunday, an assault was made on the Hotel Flora which was the headquarters of the German high command in the city. It is clear that there were serious numbers of casualties but the Germans kept the details secret. Immediately the curfew was changed from 11.30 p. m. to 7.00 p. m. and the use of bicycles after 5.00 p. m. was prohibited. The provision in relation to bicycles arose from the fact that one of the resistance attacks had been carried out using a bicycle as a means of transport. Notices went up on walls in Rome outlining the new regulations.

  From this moment on, without exception, the use of any bicycle anywhere in the territory of the open city of Rome is prohibited. Transgressors will be shot without regard to who they are and without prior notice.11

  The Duchess of Sermoneta reports:

  Tricycles being allowed, the ingenious Romans added two small wheels – taken usually from perambulators – on either side of the bicycles and not quite touching the ground.12

  After a few days these were forbidden also.

  In December a new Italian Fascist police squad, under the leadership of Pietro Koch, was formed in response to the increased activity by the Resistance. Meanwhile Monsignor Montini became aware that the numbers of German security forces stationed in Rome were being increased significantly and he began to fear that an attempt to breach the neutrality of papal properties was imminent. Some days later, his fears were realised as Koch’s group was used to breach the sanctuary of a number of Vatican properties.

  The first target on 21 December was the seminary beside the Basilica of San Giovanni. This was the hiding place of some leading members of Italy’s anti-Fascist elite. Included among these were the heads of various parties in the coalition of anti-Fascist organisations and a total of approximately 200 powerful enemies of the regime including 55 Jews. The notice on the door was the usual one on such properties, printed in Italian and German, making it clear that all searches and requisitions were prohibited because it was the property of the Vatican. Despite this, of course, such a raid was not unexpected by those in occupation and many managed to make their escape. Koch had in his group a man who had previously been a monk. Those who were caught, and pretended to be seminarians, were asked to recite the Ave Maria. This enabled the former monk to identify who were imposters. All in all, eighteen prisoners were taken. The rest managed to disperse through the city. A number of other properties were raided in the next few days. The Vatican authorities immediately made a protest but Kappler denied any German involvement when challenged by the German Ambassador, even though some of his own men had joined as part of the exercise.

  The authorities then published a list of offences throughout Rome and the punishments which would apply. Anyone harbouring escaped prisoners of war, owning a wireless transmitter or not fulfilling labour obligations would be immediately executed. Anyone in contact with escaped prisoners of war, printing or publishing news derogatory to the Axis Forces, assisting with the operation of a wireless or taking photographs out of doors would be sentenced to hard labour for life. A twenty-year prison sentence would apply to anyone who failed to notify the authorities of a change of address.

  It is also clear from reading Mother Mary’s diary and, indeed reports from the Irish diplomats in Rome, that living conditions in the city were quite difficult. The food supply was far from satisfactory. A rationing system was in operation but even the full rations would not have been enough to meet the needs. Very often the items one was entitled to, in accordance with the rationing system, were not in fact available. There was a thriving black market but prices were very high. Kiernan wrote back to Dublin:

  The nuns prayed to St Joseph to discover black market ‘bargains’ and they say he answers their prayers.13

  Later on he was to report,

  Irish priests here are not starving (except two) but they are all under-nourished as the
stores they had laid in are used sparingly.14

  Tea and coffee were more or less unavailable and bread was very scarce. The public transport system had deteriorated due to a lack of spare parts and tyres. In addition the Allied Forces had started to bomb the city.

  Over the years the Monsignor paid visits home to stay with his sister whenever he got the opportunity. Also living there was his nephew and namesake, Hugh O’Flaherty, afterwards a distinguished barrister and judge, who was being cared for by Mrs Sheehan as his own mother had died when he was quite young. His aunt had very high standards as regards table settings. She was of the view that there should be two of everything, such as butter and sugar, so that nobody would have to stretch too far. Hugh (the nephew) recalls his uncle’s joy at seeing such plentiful supplies which contrasted with what he had been experiencing in Rome.

  Koch’s gang was in many ways more dangerous than the Germans. As Italians, this neo-Fascist Gestapo group found it easier to gather information in relation to the activities of the escape organisation and within a short space of time they had built up a network of informers. The additional manpower enabled Koch, working together with Kappler, to enhance their security crackdown. They had identified that a number of radio transmitters were operating in the city illegally. Their investigations led them to conclude that one of them was located in the Via delle Impero where the Chevaliers lived. One afternoon Paul Chevalier called to his mother’s house and alerted her to the fact that there was a security sweep planned for the area that evening. The four soldiers who were hiding there, together with some of the younger daughters, went separately for walks through the city. Just before seven o’clock there was a discreet knock on the door and it was the porter, Egidio, alerting Mrs Chevalier to the fact that the raid was about to take place. The next knock was the raiding party of troopers. They searched each of the rooms and challenged Paul for his papers which were acceptable, being from the Swiss Legation. They questioned Mrs Chevalier as to the size of her family and she explained that herself, her five daughters and her mother lived there while her son lived at the Legation. Not for the first time, the size of her family and the limited accommodation available fooled a search party into thinking that nobody else could possibly be living there. There was a pile of gramophone records in one corner of the living room and one of the SS men began to search through them. Gemma, one of Mrs Chevalier’s daughters, became very concerned as she remembered then that there was a British disc in among them. Luckily he did not notice it. After the search of the house and the entire area was over, Gemma went to collect her sisters and the soldiers who began to re-assemble in the room. By nine o’clock that evening they were all having supper. There were five British soldiers in the apartment for the next raid and this time it was the porter’s wife, Elvira, who raised the alarm. Again the soldiers evacuated but, as it turned out, the objective of the raid was other apartments in the same block.

  The increasing numbers which had been allocated to Kappler’s group, together with the setting up of the separate group under Koch, enabled the authorities to gain tighter control on the city. One plain-clothes member of Koch’s group was posted more or less permanently on the street where the Chevalier family lived. Cigarettes were invariably in high demand among the escaped soldiers. These were usually circulated by the priests but, on this particular occasion, some of the soldiers in the Chevalier apartment had none, so Gemma went to the local shop. As she handed over the money to make the payment, something in the face of the shopkeeper alerted her to danger. She left the shop and she noticed an Italian man watching her. So instead of walking towards the family home she went the other way and he began to follow. As the noise of his footsteps rang louder she decided to make a getaway and ran into the main street right across the path of an oncoming tram. Passers-by assumed she had been struck but when the tram passed through all that was left strewn on the street were large numbers of loose cigarettes. Gemma had got away. She kept this near miss from her mother for some time. These episodes were a portent of more serious developments to come as the new year dawned.

  As Christmas approached, the pursuit of the Jews was stepped up. Again, Mother Mary records the developments:

  Unpleasant news this morning. The patriots and Jews who have been sheltered in religious houses all over Rome will probably not be safe any more. The Fascists – not the Germans this time – are raiding them. Back in October, when the SS men first got here, they tried to search the Oriental Institute, but desisted on learning it was pontifical property. The ‘Republican Fascists’ on the other hand, are quite free from such scruples and enjoyed breaking into anything belonging to the Pope because they are so very very sensitive at not having their Government recognised by the Vatican … their first venture was on a fairly large scale, including three neighbouring establishments. The Lombard College … the Oriental Institute run by the Jesuits and the Russicum, the College for Russian Church students … at the Oriental Institute, the Jesuits had sheltered three Jews. The Brother porter faced the Fascists and said ‘you have no right here, this is Pontifical Property, where are your papers?’ ‘Here’, was the answer, and the Brother found himself looking into the muzzle of a revolver. During the search one of the Jews escaped. The second was suffering from heart disease and collapsed from the shock of being discovered. The third was a doctor and although he could have escaped quite easily he would not leave the man who had fainted. They were both taken.

  Only three were caught in the Russicum but it was searched like the other two houses. As he was going, the leader of the gang turned to the Rector and said ‘why did you hide these men’ ‘For the same reason for which we shall probably be hiding you before long’ said the Rector.15

  (Mother Mary St Luke, 22 December 1943)

  In that period of November–December, the work of the organisation developed quite significantly. By Christmas they were catering for approximately 2,000 escapees, of whom about 80 were located in Rome.

  The Monsignor was anxious that Christmas would be celebrated to the greatest possible extent. Simpson recalls visiting O’Flaherty’s room on 23 December, which he describes as being:

  … crammed with hundreds of small parcels, all wrapped in gaily coloured paper and tied with red silk ribbon. In the centre stood a middle-aged English lady, Miss Stanley, an enthusiastic aide to the Monsignor who had prepared all these Christmas gifts for the men in hiding … Squeezing in were priests – Maltese, Irish and New Zealand – mustered here to distribute these gifts throughout the city.16

  Simpson and Furman were very busy on Christmas Eve. They distributed turkeys, wine, cigarettes and the special Christmas parcels prepared by Miss Stanley to all the billets.

  On Christmas morning Mrs Chevalier served us brandy instead of tea. The house was a circus. Christmas gifts had already been exchanged among the family and the three British ‘lodgers’. Even old Grandma was hobbling around happily. In the kitchen Rosie laboured over the Christmas dinner. On every sideboard and shelf in the dining room dishes groaned with cakes and fruit.17

  St Stephen’s Day in the Monsignor’s room was one of great celebration, and as Derry describes it, there were visitors in and out in a never-ending procession. During the course of the day priests of half a dozen nationalities who were involved in the work of the organisation, diplomats and their families from the French, Polish, Yugoslav and other legations, Ambassador and Mrs Kiernan and their two daughters Blon and Orla, all turned up. A large number of unusual characters who were hiding in various parts of the College since well before Derry’s arrival also joined the group. On more than one occasion, in his reports back to the authorities in Dublin, Kiernan refers to his wife using her singing skills to cheer up the members of the Irish community and others, and this was one such occasion when the group had a traditional sing-song. Aside from Delia, the main singer in this group was Fr ‘Spike’ Buckley. Indeed, his skill as a singer, while not matching hers, was so good that at various stages she tried to per
suade him to have his voice professionally trained.

  Indeed, visits to the Monsignor’s room always had their less serious and sombre side. John Furman recalls:

  It was always in the nature of a treat to visit headquarters in the Monsignor’s room. Quite apart from the tonic effect of a meeting with Sam, the Monsignor himself and John May, and the opportunity such a meeting presented of discussing our problems, there were invariably other visitors who were full of interest in their own right. Many were priests who gave more and more of their time to the work of their organisation as the number of prisoners drifting into Rome increased. Among them were Fathers ‘Spike’ Buckley and ‘Edmund’ Madden were most popular. They were a pair of crazy Irish men, game for anything. Spike, when mellowed with wine would sing sentimental Irish ballads to order.18

  He also has clear memories of visits by the Irish Minister and his family to the Monsignor’s apartment.

  The Irish Minister, Mr Kiernan, his wife and two daughters would occasionally put in an appearance. Mr Kiernan, a man of great erudition and an expert of fiscal matters, was soft-spoken and shy. His younger daughter, a very sweet seventeen was like him in manner, while Blon, the elder daughter, had the vivacious, quick alluring charm of her beautiful mother. They were a musical family and when Mrs Kiernan could be persuaded to sing, no greater tribute could have been paid to her than the silence which immediately descended over the Monsignor’s habitually noisy room.19