Hide and Seek: The Irish Priest in the Vatican who Defied the Nazi Command. The dramatic true story of rivalry and survival during WWII.. Stephen Walker

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СКАЧАТЬ the British government’s representative to the Vatican State, Osborne also knew he had to tread a fine diplomatic line. He was an official guest of the Pope, so his work with escaped prisoners had to remain hidden, and it made practical sense to remain distant from the everyday running of the group. Nevertheless, one evening he told O’Flaherty he could offer some assistance. ‘I will help you personally with funds as far as I am able, but I cannot use official funds, even if I could get enough, and I must not be seen to be doing anything to compromise the tacit conditions under which I am here in the Vatican State.’

      Osborne’s financial support was accepted gladly. But the diplomat went further by volunteering the services of his butler. John May became the unofficial liaison officer between the monsignor and the minister. Fluent in Italian, with a wealth of contacts across Rome, May was an ideal choice and in the months ahead it was his job to source supplies for escapees and to identify those Swiss Guards who were ready to turn a blind eye to the escape operation, which was still in its infancy. May and O’Flaherty started to work in tandem, and soon many more escapees would arrive on their doorstep.

      Kappler’s men continued to closely watch Hugh O’Flaherty and Sir D’Arcy Osborne, still convinced that they were passing information on to the Allies. But Kappler’s surveillance of the Vatican temporarily took a back seat when he became involved in one of the most dramatic twists of the war. For some time Italians had voiced criticism of Mussolini’s regime. Across the country people were hungry and in the south many were close to starvation. There was little support for Mussolini’s regime and within days of the Allied bombing of Rome his colleagues turned on him when the Fascist Grand Council met and voted by 19 to 8 to have him removed as leader. The next day King Victor Emmanuel knew he had to act. He sent a message to Mussolini and called him to a meeting at the royal residence.

      Rome was bathed in sunshine as the Fascist leader made his way to Villa Savoia. At 5 p.m. his driver swung the car through the iron gates leading into the royal grounds and stopped in front of the steps of the house. Their host was waiting near the entrance, dressed in the uniform of the Marshal of Italy. The two men shook hands and walked slowly inside.

      In the familiar surroundings of the drawing room they began to talk, first about the weather and about the Grand Council’s vote. Mussolini dismissed the vote, saying it had no legal standing and he remained confident of his position.

      Then the King struck. Turning to his guest, he said, ‘At this moment you are the most hated man in the country. I am your only remaining friend. That is why I tell you that you need have no fears for your safety. I will see you are protected.’

      Mussolini listened in silence and was now pale. When at last he spoke again, he intoned quietly, ‘Then it is over.’ He said the words several times. The meeting ended, the two men shook hands, and outside Mussolini was placed in a waiting ambulance, which quickly left the royal estate. The twenty-one-year Mussolini era had ended. The King was now in charge.

      Mussolini was replaced by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, formerly Governor General of Libya. Now in his seventies, Badoglio had enjoyed a long career as a soldier and had led the Italians to a military victory in Ethiopia. He was an odd choice. He had no political experience but had a reputation for being a ditherer and was an alcoholic. However, within hours he had established a temporary administration made up of generals and civil servants. Badoglio may have performed this task with a touch of Schadenfreude, since Mussolini had sacked him in 1940.

      As the former Fascist leader was experiencing his first evening in protective custody, the King announced on the radio to the Italian nation that he had accepted Mussolini’s resignation. Badoglio also went on the airwaves, to proclaim that the war against the Allies would continue and the alliance with Germany would continue.

      Hitler was sitting in the conference room in the ‘Wolf’s Lair’ when he heard the news. The building, tucked away in dense evergreen forest in East Prussia, was an inner sanctum where the Führer met members of his high command. When he learnt what had happened in Rome, he was furious. The coup had caught him unawares and, while he knew there was anti-Mussolini feeling across Italy, he had not believed it would be acted upon. Moreover he distrusted Pietro Badoglio, fearing correctly that he was preparing to negotiate a peace deal with the Allies. Hitler suspected that the Americans and the British were in some way involved in the Mussolini coup. In addition he judged that further Allied landings on the Italian mainland could prompt an Italian surrender and that therefore it was essential to organize a countercoup in Rome and seize the city. Hitler was in a race against time.

      He spoke on the telephone to senior commanders, held meetings and read briefing papers, then started to put together a plan which he would christen ‘Operation Oak’. On paper it looked straightforward, but in practice it would prove very different. The mission consisted of three stages: Mussolini would be found, he would be restored to power, and the German–Italian alliance would be strengthened. First, the former Fascist leader had to be traced. Twenty-four hours after the kidnapping Hitler hand-picked the man to lead Operation Oak. Otto Skorzeny, a young Austrian commando captain, six feet four inches tall and well built, was his choice.

      Skorzeny set up his headquarters in the ancient town of Frascati, a picturesque suburb of Rome about ten miles from the capital. Known for its vineyards, it was also home to the General Headquarters for German troops in Italy and housed the offices of Marshal Albert Kesselring, the Supreme Commander of the Southern Front, in charge of military operations in the Mediterranean region and North Africa. For the next six weeks it would also be the command centre of Skorzeny’s secret mission.

      Skorzeny needed local help and called on the services of Herbert Kappler and Eugen Dollmann. Like Kappler, Dollmann was an SS man and had lived in Rome for a number of years. The two were rivals and did not get on with each other. Dollmann, a colonel, was highly rated by Himmler and was his personal representative in Rome. Kappler may well have been envious of Dollmann, who was better educated and also was the favourite of General Karl Wolff, the commander of the SS in Italy.

      When Skorzeny told Himmler he needed help in Rome, Kappler and Dollmann were volunteered. The two SS men were summoned from Rome to Skorzeny’s headquarters in Frascati to have dinner with him.

      After they had eaten, Skorzeny explained to his guests what his plans were. Privately both Kappler and Dollmann thought the mission was flawed. They saw Fascism in Italy as finished and believed there was little point in bringing Mussolini back into power. However, they kept their thoughts to themselves. When Skorzeny met them both at Kappler’s office some days later, Dollmann had considered being honest with the commando captain. ‘Once again it would have been heroic of me if I had told the State Security Bureau’s agent flatly what I thought of his plans for Rome, but I naturally refrained from doing so,’ he would later record in his diary.

      Like his colleague, Kappler kept quiet, but eventually he made an attempt to change Skorzeny’s mind. He flew to meet Heinrich Himmler and expressed his reservations. He said that the operation planned by Skorzeny was pointless and advised Himmler that Mussolini would only be able to return to power by ‘the strength of German bayonets’. It was a pointless trip. As Reichsführer-SS, Himmler was Skorzeny’s boss and one of the most important men in the Third Reich. He was committed to the plan.

      So Operation Oak began in earnest, with a reluctant Kappler an important part of it. With a small staff Kappler could not offer manpower to Skorzeny’s operation. But what he could provide was good local knowledge and a wide range of contacts. Skorzeny provided forged banknotes, and with these Kappler was able to tempt his spies to sell information about Mussolini’s movements. For the next few weeks seeking out the former Fascist leader would become the police attaché’s priority.

       Chapter Six OPERATION ESCAPE

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