Surveillance

Hitler had only one of Mussolini's reasons for respecting the neutrality of Vatican City. The Nazi Foreign Office, intent on happiness at home and German influence in other countries, and more squeamish than William Nogaret or Napoleon Bonaparte or Vittorio Emanuele II, shrank from the consequences of a seizure of the Vatican. But anything could change the mood.

One of Hitler's favourite occupations was to imprison the famous – King Leopold, Admiral Horthy, Marshal Pétain, Blum, Daladier, Schuschnigg etc. Several German reminiscences of the time mention the possibility of removing the Pope to Germany.

The rumour that the Germans meant to kidnap the Pope kept appearing. This was partly because the idea was obvious – if the Germans had to evacuate Rome why should they leave behind them in the Vatican a moral force who might help the new occupiers of Rome? But one reason the story kept going about was British propaganda. The British Political Warfare Executive found it excellent propaganda to put it about that Hitler was just about to kidnap the Pope. A bogus ‘German’ wireless broadcast the message (9 October) that all preparations were made for the removal of the Pope to the Reich. Two days later the bogus radio said that the castle of Lichtenstein in Württemberg was now ready to receive the Pope and the cardinals. These broadcasts appear to have taken in some of German Intelligence.