Pope Pius XII’s wartime letters: 10,000 cries for help

When the Vatican opened the archives of Pope Pius XII’s pontificate in 2020, historians gained unprecedented access to documents from one of history’s most scrutinized papacies. Among the scholars who got to work was historian Hubert Wolf. He and his team at the University of Münster uncovered a staggering 10,000 pleas for help — letters sent to Pope Pius XII during World War II, desperate appeals from Jewish individuals and others seeking refuge from Nazi persecution.

According to Stefanie Stahlhofen’s article for Vatican News, these petitions, scattered across six archives, span 17,400 pages in 17 languages. Wolf and his team have made it their mission to transcribe and analyze these letters, uncovering the fates of those who wrote them, and examining how the Vatican responded.

One such letter, Stahlhofen writes, came from Martin Wachskerz, a Jewish man pleading for Vatican intervention to secure Swiss visas for his family. As Wolf explained, these letters reveal raw human desperation:

Wachskerz’s letter, dated December 20, 1942, reached the Vatican by early January 1943. The Cardinal Secretary of State acted swiftly, instructing the papal nuncio in Switzerland to request visas on behalf of the Wachskerz family, explicitly stating that the Holy Father wished for their protection.

However, the Swiss immigration police refused, citing an already overwhelming number of Jewish refugees. Stahlhofen reports that this case highlights a recurring theme in the Vatican’s wartime efforts: While the Curia sought to assist, their success often depended on external governments and institutions.

For Wolf and his team, the work does not end with discovering the letters. They aim to trace the outcomes of these petitions, reconstructing personal histories that might otherwise have been lost. This effort requires combing through global archives, including those at Yad Vashem and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Remarkably, Wolf has enlisted help from unexpected allies, including retired police investigators. “A former detective cracked a case in three days that had stumped us,” he noted. These collaborations breathe life into the research, bringing closure to long-unanswered questions.

One of the most pressing questions concerns Pope Pius XII himself. How many of these letters reached him? How did he respond?

According to Stahlhofen’s article, Wolf’s preliminary findings suggest that the Pope personally saw only about 10% of the petitions. Many were handled by Vatican officials before they ever reached his desk. Still, when Pius XII was directly involved, he sometimes overruled his advisors to act.

Wolf urges a shift in perspective: Rather than focusing solely on “Pius XII and the Holocaust,” he argues, we must examine “Pius XII, the Roman Curia, and the Holocaust.” This broader approach acknowledges the Vatican’s complex bureaucracy and the limits of the Pope’s direct involvement.

Despite five years of research, only a fraction of the letters have been analyzed, and only a dozen individuals’ fates have been fully reconstructed. Wolf estimates that it will take another 25 years before a complete, data-driven picture emerges.

In the meantime, the University of Münster has launched an online resource, Asking the Pope for Help, where visitors can access and even listen to these historic letters. This digital archive ensures that the voices of those who sought the Pope’s aid will not be forgotten.