Warburg in Rome, James Carroll, author; David Doersch, narrator
This book captured my attention and held it from the beginning to the end, however, there were times when rather than being historical fiction, it felt like it verged on becoming a romance novel. There were sexual escapades and innuendo included that perhaps seemed necessary to the author to show the lengths to which someone would go, to further the cause they believed in, above all else. The history was truly fascinating and enlightening about a period of time and a subject that little has been written about, Rome after the war, possibly because of the stigma that would be associated with someone criticizing the behavior of the Church, the Israeli Freedom fighters or even that of the American government and the American military during and after World War II.
The book which begins in Rome, Italy, after the war there has ended, concentrates on four major characters. David Warburg (not related to the wealthy Warburg’s but who used his name to his advantage anyway), is a lapsed Jew who is in Rome to accomplish the task of aiding and enabling the resettlement of Jewish refugees. He knows his heritage is Jewish, but he neither practices nor believes in the dogma. His efforts are hindered by the politics of the day, the needs of the Church and the secret actions of the American actors often preventing his success. Marguerite “d”Erasmo is a Catholic. She believes her parents were murdered. She converts to Judaism because of the horrors and atrocities she witnessed being committed by members of the Church while she worked with the Red Cross in Croatia. She becomes a freedom fighter for the Jewish cause. Father Kevin Deane is a Catholic priest from the Bronx. He is upwardly mobile and on track to become a Bishop, if he plays his cards right. He is in charge of protecting the Catholic faith, working to preserve the influence of the Catholic Church in Europe. He reports to Cardinal Spellman who is not highly praised in the book, and he believes, from information he is given, that the Church is doing everything it can to aid the Jews, including offering them shelter and visas to leave for safer havens. Sister Thomas is a conflicted num who turned to the church because her love for a British soldier was doomed. She and Deane are friends. There is the suggestion that they both harbor some forbidden thoughts. Will they remain true to their faith? Sister Thomas aids Deane in his efforts to assist Warburg. All think they are working toward a common goal. However, what it seems to be, is often not what it actually is, in reality. Sometimes there are cross purposes that others are unaware of, and so they are duped.
Additionally, there is Lionni, an Israeli freedom fighter, extraordinaire, totally devoted to the cause of fighting his enemies, even when he and some other freedom fighters choose to behave like the enemy. The American, Colonel Mates, pretends to be working to help all of the above, however, he is a secret agent of the OSS, and he is actually aiding the Nazis. America believes they will help prevent the spread of Communism. He works with Father Lehhman, a German priest whose mother was Argentinian, to establish “ratlines” which are the escape routes for ex-Nazis. The church provides the false passports to get them out of Europe. Father Vukas is a corrupt Franciscan priest who brutally mistreated the children under his control. These characters are made up out of whole cloth, but are related to real counterparts that existed.
The author does not mince words or sugar coat the players. The book shines a light on all the questionable behavior of the time and also shines a light on the anti-Semitism throughout the world, the United States, Europe and South America. Croatian priests were corrupt. There were compromised priests in the Vatican who worked for the Nazis. Some of the priests participated in heinous acts against the Jewish population. America colluded with the Nazis as well, in their effort to prevent the spread of Communism. Some in the American administration thwarted efforts to save the Jews. The Haganah and the Irgun became the Israeli Defense Force after the state of Israel was established, but before that, they carried out violent acts against the British and were also called terrorists. The political interests of each superseded the lives of the victims everywhere. While the main characters are not real, the characters surrounding them, Cardinal Spellman, General Ante Paveli?, Pope Pius XII, FDR, President Truman, Clare Booth Luce, Raoul Wallenberg, Cardinal Domenico Tardini, Henry Morganthau, and others were very real and recognizable personages.
I learned things I never knew about, although I have read extensively on the period surrounding the Holocaust. I researched many questions the book raised and discovered, for instance, that there was a concentration camp specifically for children in Croatia, the “Sisak children's concentration camp” which according to Wikipedia is “officially called "Shelter for Children Refugees". It “was a concentration camp during World War II located in Sisak, set up by the Ustaše government of the Nazi-puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia, for Serbian, Jewish and Romani children.”
I learned how Pope Pius XII, was completely protected from information from the outside world so that he could continue to appear neutral, not supporting the Nazis while he was actively not rescuing the Jews. His ultimate purpose was to preserve the Church and the aura of purity around the Vatican, at all costs. The situation exists today for many heads of state. They are protected from the knowledge their governments perform so they can claim ignorance and remain above the fray.
In the end, by using characters made up out of whole cloth, Carroll, a former priest, has opened up the eyes of his readers to the corruption of many during the time of World War II. What were they all working for or seeking? Was it revenge or justice? Using conflicted characters, he shows that there is the capacity for some kind of good and evil in everyone. That interpretation is in the eye of the beholder