Père Marie-Benoît and Jewish rescue : how a French priest together with Jewish friends saved thousands during the Holocaust / Susan Zuccotti.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Pierre Péteul : Family Heritage and Education -- Pierre Péteul and the First World War -- The Years between the Wars, 1919 to 1939 -- First Steps toward Jewish Rescue : Marseille, May 1940 to August 1942 -- With Joseph Bass in Marseille, August 1942 to June 1943 -- With Angelo Donati in Nice, November 1942 to June 1943 -- Père Marie-Benoît and the Donati Plan, June to September 1943 -- Early Rescue in Rome, September and October 1943 -- With Stefan Schwamm in Rome : Securing Documents for Jewish Rescue -- With Stefan Schwamm in Rome : Securing Funds for Jewish Rescue -- After the Liberation of Rome -- The Final Decades -- Epilogue.

Print version record.

The author narrates the life and work of Père Marie-Benoît, a courageous French Capuchin priest who risked everything to hide Jews in France and Italy during the Holocaust. Who was this extraordinary priest and how did he become adept at hiding Jews, providing them with false papers, and helping them to elude their persecutors? From monasteries first in Marseille and later in Rome, Père Marie-Benoît worked with Jewish co-conspirators to build remarkably effective Jewish-Christian rescue networks. Acting independently without Vatican support - but with help from some priests, nuns, and local citizens - he and his friends persisted in their clandestine work until the Allies liberated Rome. After the conflict, he maintained his wartime Jewish friendships and devoted the rest of his life to Jewish Christian reconciliation. Papal officials viewed both activities unfavorably until after the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), 1962-1965. To tell this remarkable tale, in addition to her research in French and Italian archives, the author personally interviewed Père Marie-Benoît, his family, Jewish rescuers with whom he worked, and survivors who owed their lives to his network.

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