ADSS 10.293 Andrea Cassulo, Romania to Luigi Maglione - Transylvanian Jews

10.293 Andrea Cassulo, Romania to Cardinal Maglione

Reference: Telegram 187 (AES 6510/44)

Location and date: Timişul de sus, 08.08.1944 @ 09.30 (Received Rome 10.08.1944 @ 10.00)

Summary statement: Request for help for about 2,000 Jewish families, many of whom are Christians, threatened with deportation.  They wish to go to Palestine.

Language: Italian

Text:

Ernest Grossmann (1), a delegate for a group of Jews from northern Transylvania, many of whom have relatives who converted to Christianity, are threatened with deportation to Hungary. (2) They earnestly seek to obtain permission from the German authorities to emigrate to Palestine via the Danube which is under German control in Romania.  There are approximately 20,000 families. (3)

Notes:

(1) In his letter of 1.08.1944, Cassulo added: “I want to emphasise that the emigration of the Jewish element of Europe between the views of the German authorities and all that the Catholic Church has done for them in different countries, I am convinced that in this case also we will have His assistance, especially as it is a work of profound humanity, for which six thousand souls thank God”.

(2) Under the terms of the Second Vienna Award of 1940 most of northern Transylvania was ceded to Hungary.  When the deportation of Hungarian Jews commenced in May 1944 the Jews of Transylvania were included.  Approximately 160,000 from the region were deported and murdered, mostly at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

(3) There was an error in transmission.  Grossmann spoke of “two thousand families who wished to go to Palestine”.  In reply on 21.08.1944 (Telegram 263, AES 6510/44) the Secretariat of State wrote” “The Holy See has not failed to pass on telegram 187 of your Excellency to the Nunciature in Budapest”.

ADSS 10.280 Andrea Cassulo, Romania to Luigi Maglione - Hungarian Jews

10.280 Andrea Cassulo, Romania to Cardinal Maglione

Reference: Report number 11162 (AES 7013/44)

Location and date: Timişul de sus, 28.07.1944

Summary statement: Information on the deportation of the Hungarian Jews and request for intervention.

Language: Italian

Text:

With my report 11127 of 11.07.1944 (1) I sent to your Eminence a letter from Doctor Safran, the Chief Rabbi of Romania, who sought help for his Hungarian compatriots who have been subjected to exceptional coercive measures in recent months.

I am sending now the document confirming the painful facts, and I send it to your Eminence with the thought that it could be used to alleviate to some extent, the fate of so many poor people forced to leave their homes and live in concentration camps. (2)

I understand that it is not easy, given that the measures are so stringent, the war situation and the pressure under which the Hungarians authorities operate.  In any case, I believe that we do well to pray that a quick end is made to this painful situation for all concerned.

Notes:

(1) See ADSS 10.260

(2) The document, with no date, was signed by six people. (Archives of the Romanian Nunciature).  It said [in German] “As Your Excellency most likely knows, the Royal Hungarian Government has begun deporting the Jews.  As a result of this order the Jews of Transylvania were taken and without exception, forced to leave their homes.  For some time we have had no news of our families, and all attempts to learn of their fate have been fruitless.  Our despair is without limits, because many of our parents, siblings and children have been struck with this merciless fate.  In our desperation we call on the Christian charity of the Holy Catholic Church, which, throughout its history, has always helped people in need”.

(3) See ADSS 10.295, n1.