Paolino Lazzari

In December ’43, Paolino, who lived with his family just outside the Vatican walls, received a visit from Monsignor Mariano De Carolis of the Vatican Chapter in order to organise the rescue of a large number of American and British prisoners hidden in the countryside and caves around Monte Soratte, who were being assisted at that time by local helpers.

The high prelate asked Paolino to host, even if only for a few hours, Captain Humphrey of the American General Staff: “I was supposed to accompany the Captain at 6:30 PM, to the main gate of the Palace of the Holy Office, where he would meet Monsignor O’Flaherty^[1].

After the successful outcome of the operation, Paolino was contacted again by O’Flaherty himself, who asked him to hide new prisoners who had arrived in Rome from various parts of the Lazio region, and who would later be placed with other families throughout the city.

Encouraged by the favourable outcome of the first experiment, I accepted with enthusiasm, both to make myself useful to these poor young people hidden in caves day and night, and wounded, and then for the spirit of Christian charity. In fact, from that moment until April 9, the day of my arrest, there was an almost constant flow of guests—over a hundred in total. They were officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers from Britain, the United States, South Africa, Algeria, Poland, Canada, France, and Tunisia.

 At the beginning of April ’44, after other members of the group had already been arrested and someone had mentioned Paolino’s name, he was also taken from his home. At that moment, there were four Polish soldiers and three Anglo-American servicemen in his house, along with three young draft evaders—these last ones were taken away with him. The Allied prisoners, who were sleeping in the air-raid shelter located in the basement of the building, were sent away just in time by Paolino’s son, Giancarlo, who was only twelve years old:

In this situation, the courage and presence of mind of my twelve-year-old son, Giancarlo, were of great help to me. Despite having a fractured foot, under the pretence of going to the bathroom, he opened the shelter, woke up the prisoners, and led them all to a safe refuge. […]
Before taking me away, they allowed me to embrace my wife and children: it was the most painful moment. While I was hugging my wife and lingering to kiss my eighteen-month-old daughter, I whispered to my wife to warn everyone involved in my arrest and to hide.

 Paolino was taken to the headquarters of the Koch gang^[2], where he was interrogated and brutally tortured. He admitted to knowing O’Flaherty, but did not reveal other details of the organisation.

Koch realised I could no longer stand and ordered them to stop torturing me. Two of the henchmen, holding me up by the arms, kept me standing in front of Koch’s desk. Then he said to me: “Since you refuse to talk, you will never speak again,” and, picking up a stapling pliers used for binding papers, ordered one of his thugs to staple my tongue. The man told me to stick it out, and with the pliers, he drove a staple through it, as the metal clamps pierced my tongue.

Paolino was then locked up in a cell with other members of the organisation, who had already been interrogated and tortured. The men were later transferred to Regina Coeli prison, where he finally received his first medical treatment.

He was released on June 2, 1944, shortly before the Allied liberation of the city.

The Allied Commission wrote the following about Paolino:«This gallant man has shown outstanding courage, initiative and fortitude under the most severe conditions; he has rendered valuable service to the Allied cause».

Note:

^[1] O’Flaherty, a Catholic priest, was instrumental in the rescue of over six thousand people—including civilians, soldiers, and persecuted Jews—whom he helped hide in Vatican extraterritorial residences and religious institutions during the Nazi-Fascist occupation of Rome. For this work, he earned the nickname “The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican.”

^[2] The “Koch gang”, a team of fascist police called the Reparto Speciale di Polizia Repubblicana “Special Unit of the Republican Police”, was active between December 1943 and June 1944 in Rome, then in Milan. Known for violence and cruelty during interrogations, it is named after foreman Pietro Koch (1918-1945).