num_pages: 304
description: In 9/43, Adolf Hitler, furious at the ouster of Mussolini, sent German troops into Rome &amp; ordered SS General Karl Wolff, who had been Heinrich Himmler’s chief aide, to occupy the Vatican &amp; kidnap (perhaps, kill) Pope Pius XII. At the same time plans were being made to deport Rome’s Jews to Auschwitz, Wolff began playing a dangerous game: stalling Hitler’s plot against the pope, whom he hoped would save him from the noose in case Germany lost the war. To save Pius, Wolff &amp; fellow conspirators blackmailed him into silence when the Jews were rounded up, hoping that Hitler would rescind his order. This tale of intrigue &amp; betrayal is one of the most important untold stories of WWII. Dan Kurzman was the 1st journalist to have interviewed General Wolff following his release from prison after the war. This is the only book to tell the full behind-the-scenes story of the plot against the Vatican &amp; its far-reaching consequences.
language: English
title: A Special Mission: Hitler's Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican & Kidnap Pope Pius XII
titlecomplete: A Special Mission: Hitler's Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican & Kidnap Pope Pius XII
genres: Religion, Biography, European History, Nonfiction, Holocaust, 20th Century, History, World War II
ratings_count: 144
publisher: Da Capo Press/Perseus Books Group (Cambridge, MA)