It has all the hallmarks of a best-selling fictional thriller: espionage, conspiracy, a struggle against evil powers, undercover work by dark of night...
Illustrated.
After the war, O\'Flaherty was honored by various Allied countries with awards and decorations for his heroic acts to save Jews and POWs.
O\'Flaherty\'s network of apartments.
The remaining 3,700 were hidden in private homes, including Msgr.
The rest were hidden, 5,000 of them by the official Church - 3,000 at the Pope\'s Castel Gandolfo, 200 or 400 (estimates vary) as members of the Palatine Guard, and some 1,500 in monasteries, convents and colleges.
All told, of 9,700 Roman Jews, most were saved, with 1,007 shipped to Auschwitz.
Peter\'s - neutral ground that even the Nazis wouldn\'t violate - to welcome any fugitives who might be sent his way.
Each day his familiar figure would stand on the steps of St.
O\'Flaherty.
Using private homes and apartments, churches and monasteries, the effort was all orchestrated by Msgr.
Despite Kappler\'s numerous attempts to assassinate him, O\'Flaherty persisted, and his efforts saved thousands of Jews and POWs.
There was one goal-- to save Jews and POWs from the Nazi machine.
O\'Flaherty sprang into action, organizing a sophisticated team that included men and women of many nationalities, religions, and political views.
As a top man in the Vatican Holy Office, Msgr.
Kappler was a notorious hater of the Jews, persecuting them at every turn.
After the surrender of Italy in 1943, Rome came under the command of Nazi Colonel Herbert Kappler of the dreaded SS, who began the deportation of Italian Jews to Auschwitz.
It was here in Rome that his greatest work began.
After his ordination, he served first as an Apostolic Delegate in Egypt, Haiti, Santo Domingo, and Czechoslovakia, then in Rome at the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith).
From an early age, however, he knew his calling was to the priesthood.
Born in Killarney, Ireland, Hugh O\'Flaherty was an avid athlete-- becoming a formidable boxer, handball player, hurler, and golfer.
The Scarlet and the Black tells the astonishing and heroic True Story of Monsignor Hugh O\'Flaherty, the man dubbed The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican during World War II. but it\'s all true.
It has all the hallmarks of a best-selling fictional thriller: espionage, conspiracy, a struggle against evil powers, undercover work by dark of night..
