Special Mission

This is the shocking and incredible story behind Hitler’s plan to occupy the Vatican and kidnap Pope Pius XII - and the surprising result of its failure.In September 1943, Adolf Hitler, furious at the ousting of Mussolini, sent German troops into Rome and ordered SS General Karl Wolff, who had been Heinrich Himmler’s chief aide, to occupy the Vatican and kidnap (and perhaps kill) Pope Pius XII.At the same time that 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 and fellow conspirators blackmailed him into silence when the Jews were rounded up, hoping that Hitler would rescind his order.This tale of intrigue and betrayal is one of the most important untold stories of World War II. Dan Kurzman was the first journalist to have interviewed General Wolff following his release from prison in 1971. And this is the only book to tell the full behind-the-scenes story of the plot against the Vatican and its far-reaching consequences.