Yours Is a Precious Witness

the long version

The fiftieth anniversary of World War II and the Holocaust inspired new memoirs, documentaries and historical studies, but few examined the hundreds of personal stories of Italians who tried to rescue Jewish people from certain death, and the important role played in those efforts by the Catholic Church, especially by Pope Pius XII and many parishes and religious orders of men and women. Mainly using untapped oral histories of Italian Jews and Catholics, this book shows that Catholics in Italy who saved Jews firmly believed they were doing so in consonance with the Pope's wishes. Readers will get to know these courageous individuals through their inspiring memoirs. Yours is a Precious Witness strives to draw a more personal portrait of Pius XII. He spoke loudly - not in words, which would have resulted in Nazi retaliations, but in actions that directly saved thousands of Jews. Convents, monasteries and papal buildings in Italy became havens for refugees.