Rome, Italy, Jun 17, 2009 / 12:15 pm
The Italian bishops’ newspaper Avvenire published an article on Tuesday revealing the details behind Hitler’s plan to kidnap or kill Pope Pius XII as a way of “punishing” the Italians for the arrest of Mussolini.
The paper reported information about the plan was revealed from a direct source in 1972, when the son of one of the German officials involved in the plan, Niki Freytag von Loringhoven, testified in Munich. The article in Avvenire featured new details about the Nazi plan.
According to Freytag von Loringhoven, a secret meeting was held in Venice on July 29 and 30, 1943 with Italy’s head of counter-espionage, General Cesare Ame, to inform him of Hitler’s intention to punish the Italians for arresting Mussolini by kidnapping or killing Pius XII or the king.
Among those present at the meeting were the German head of counter-espionage, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, and two German colonels, Erwin von Lahousen and Wessel Freytag von Loringhoven (the father of Niki).