Holy Father, help me: Letters to 杏MAP导航 Pius XII
By Stefanie Stahlhofen
鈥淒ear God, help me"鈥� this desperate cry was not only whispered in prayer by those persecuted by the Nazis during World War II, but also written down and sent as an appeal for help to 杏MAP导航 Pius XII.
On March 2, 2020, the Vatican opened the archives of 杏MAP导航 Pius XII鈥檚 pontificate (1939鈥�1958) to researchers.
Since then, historian Hubert Wolf and his team at Germany's University of Münster have uncovered at least 10,000 such petitions 鈥� scattered across 1,000 boxes and six different archives, spanning approximately 17,400 pages and written in 17 languages.
The historians recently presented their research findings at the German Embassy to the Holy See, where Professor Hubert Wolf spoke to Vatican News.
A cry for help
One of these 10,000 pleas for help uncovered by historian Hubert Wolf and his team comes from Martin Wachskerz.
"You can feel in these words," says Professor Wolf, "how deeply moving and emotional these letters are鈥攚ritten in desperation, a cry for help. These people lay out their lives before the 杏MAP导航 with astonishing openness."
How did the Vatican respond?
The historian knows the text of Martin Wachskerz's petition letter almost by heart. He and his team at the University of Münster have made it their mission to give a voice to the people behind these letters鈥攖o decipher, transcribe, and make them accessible to the public.
At the same time, their research also seeks to answer a crucial question: How did 杏MAP导航 Pius XII and the Vatican respond?
"In the case of Martin Wachskerz, his letter dates back to December 20, 1942. It likely arrived in Rome by January 3, 1943," explains historian Hubert Wolf. "And in this instance, the Cardinal Secretary of State鈥攖he Vatican鈥檚 equivalent of a foreign minister鈥攁cted immediately, without consulting the 杏MAP导航. This is one of those cases where 杏MAP导航 Pius XII was not directly involved."
Instead, the Cardinal Secretary of State instructed the papal nuncio in Switzerland: These Jews are at risk of being deported to an extermination camp. Please inform the Swiss immigration authorities that the Holy Father wishes for these four individuals to be granted visas for Switzerland.
"A relatively clear appeal," Wolf notes. However, the head of the Swiss immigration police in Bern refused the request, responding: We already have too many Jews. Such a visa cannot be granted.
"This shows that the Curia did attempt to help鈥攂ut their efforts depended on the cooperation of third parties, in this case, Switzerland," Wolf summarizes.
Yet, for Wolf and his team, the research doesn鈥檛 stop there. They want to uncover what happened to the family after their plea was denied. And so, the search for answers鈥攕parked by a single petition letter in the Vatican Archives鈥攃ontinues.
A complex investigation - with the help of a former police commissioner
For the historians, it鈥檚 not just about uncovering how 杏MAP导航 Pius XII and the Vatican responded.
Their mission goes further: to trace the fate of each individual who wrote a plea for help and make their stories accessible to the public. This means painstaking work for every single letter.
It is a Sisyphean task鈥攄ifficult, time-consuming, and complex. Often, researchers must dig through archives from various Vatican departments, different countries, embassies, immigration offices, and Holocaust memorial institutions such as Yad Vashem or the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Given the scale of the challenge, Professor Wolf and his team have sought support from a variety of sources.
鈥淲e have a whole group of 'citizen scientists'鈥攑eople who have retired and now contribute to historical research," Wolf explains. "For instance, a retired senior criminal investigator. I wrote to her saying: We have no further information on this individual. I鈥檝e conducted my own research but hit a dead end鈥攃an you help?
She worked on it for three days. And then鈥攕he cracked it. She found the answer."
Preliminary findings 鈥� and a 25-year wait for definitive answers
Of course, the researchers also aim to provide precise historical answers to key questions. For example: What did 杏MAP导航 Pius XII know? And how did he respond?
The petition letter from Martin Wachskerz, along with the other letters examined so far, has led to at least one preliminary conclusion: Wolf and his team believe that the 杏MAP导航 personally learned of only about ten percent of the pleas for help. Some appeals never even reached him.
鈥淗e was entirely dependent on what his staff selected and presented to him as important," Wolf explains. "But when he did see a case, he would make decisions鈥攕ometimes even deviating from their recommendations. That鈥檚 why I argue we must move beyond the narrow focus on Pius XII and the Holocaust. Instead, we need to examine Pius XII, the Roman Curia, and the Holocaust."
However, according to the researchers, it will take at least another 25 years of analyzing and processing the more than 10,000 petition letters before solid conclusions can be drawn about the role of Pius XII鈥攁nd his inner circle鈥攄uring the Nazi era.
鈥淚n the future, we won鈥檛 just be making qualitative assessments鈥攚e鈥檒l also be able to present quantitative, statistical findings,鈥� says Professor Wolf. 鈥淭hen we鈥檒l be able to say: Exactly this many letters requested visas for the U.S. The Holy See supported this percentage of them. The American government approved this percentage and rejected this many. In other words, we鈥檒l gain precise insight into the contexts in which things happened. Everything else鈥攊mpressions, general observations鈥攃an still evolve as hypotheses are refined.鈥�
Even five years after the opening of the Vatican Archives covering the pontificate of 杏MAP导航 Pius XII (1939鈥�1958), only a fraction of the at least 10,000 letters have been analyzed, and the fates of their authors reconstructed. So far, this has been possible for about a dozen letters, including the one from Martin Wachskerz.
Website
Professor Hubert Wolf and his team at the University of Münster have already made around 40 petition letters available to the public on a dedicated website: .
There, visitors can read and even listen to letters like Martin Wachskerz鈥檚 plea. The site also offers educational materials, making it a valuable resource for schools and researchers.
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