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ROME - THE VATICAN

Pope Pius XII held several "audiences" for the troops and other dignitaries in Rome. Historian Susan Zuccotti argued that "Pius XII, the head of the Roman Catholic Church during the Second World War, did not speak out publicly against the destruction of the Jews." Adjacent to St Peter's Square, a plaque reads: "On 16 October 1943 entire Jewish Roman families ripped from their homes
by the Nazis were brought here and then deported to extermination camps. Of more than 1,000 persons, only 16 survived." In March 2020, the Vatican made public its archives of Pius XII.