Argo , directed by Ben Affleck and winner of the Oscar for best film in 2013, narrates how the CIA managed to get six American diplomats out of Tehran who had taken refuge in the Canadian embassy after the assault by militants of the Iranian Revolution on the Canadian embassy. United States in 1979. With the support of the Canadian government, they came up with a plan that was as crazy as it was original:to go to Tehran and pass off the diplomats as a Canadian film crew looking for locations to shoot the science-fiction film Argo and, this way, to be able to bring them back home. After seeing the film, Tony Méndez , the CIA agent who devised the plan, said that, saving the logical artistic license, the real story had been respected. With these same ingredients, rescue and cinema, Vittorio de Sica he would manage to save hundreds of Jews with the movie Heaven's Gate .
In the summer of 1943, the allied troops landed in Sicily, even bombing Rome with a balance of more than 3,000 dead and 11,000 wounded. Il Messaggero published a letter dated August 30 that Pius XII addressed the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt …
Excellency:
Recent events have naturally focused the world's attention on Italy and much – too much – has been said and written about the policy that the country should or could follow in its interest. We fear that it has been taken for granted that the country is completely free to follow the policy of its choice. We wish to express to Your Excellency that it is our conviction that this is very far from reality. We do not have the slightest doubt about the desire for peace and its realization through the conclusion of the war, but in the presence of exceptional forces that oppose said realization or even the official declaration of such a desire, Italy finds itself completely chained , without the necessary means to defend themselves.If in these circumstances Italy is still forced to endure devastating attacks against which it is practically defenseless, we wish and pray that the military commanders will do their utmost to rid innocent civilians, and in particular churches and religious institutions, of the war disasters. Precisely we must record, with deep pain and regret, the eloquent images of the ruins of the most important and populated Italian cities. However, the comforting message addressed to Us by Your Excellency nourishes our hope that - even in the face of the most bitter experiences - the churches and houses built by Christian charity for the poor, the sick and the abandoned of the flock of Christ , can survive the terrible attacks. May God in his pity, love and mercy listen to the universal cry of his children and make them hear the voice of Christ who cries Peace!
We are pleased to take this opportunity to renew Our sincere respects to Your Excellency.
Pius XII with the victims of the bombing
Before the allied push, Mussolini withdrew and became strong in the center and north of Italy. Things got tough for the Duce when he was deposed and the king Victor Manuel he began to negotiate the armistice with the allies. Hitler's reaction was immediate:the Germans occupied the north and center of the country, establishing a line of defense north of Naples, in addition to freeing Mussolini. Italy was divided in two:to the south, the allied troops; in the north and center, the German troops with the collaboration of Italian fascists who had to face a growing internal resistance commanded by the communists.
Pius XII Given the brutal repression suffered by Jews and opponents of the regime, he decided not to stand idly by. With the mediation of Giovanni Montini , future Paul VI , contacted the director Vittorio de Sica to finance the shooting of a film:The door to heaven . The title was very representative of the script - a trip by a group of pilgrims to the Loreto sanctuary to ask for the intercession of the Virgin - and its purpose... to rescue as many Jews as possible, anti-fascists and those persecuted by the Gestapo. To do this, and as De Sica and Giovanni Montini agreed, they hired as many actors, technicians and extras as possible — most of them persecuted — in the purest Hollywood blockbuster style. De Sica had to extend the shooting of the film until the allies, who had already taken southern Italy, liberated Rome and, therefore, the entire team of The door of heaven . The financing was provided by Pius XII —about forty thousand dollars— and the entire shooting of the film took place in the church of San Pablo, where they remained refugees all the time. During their confinement, on one occasion they suffered the visit of the fascists and they took some Jews that they never saw again. At that time, Goebbels himself, the Nazi propaganda minister, called De Sica to offer him to become the standard bearer of the new Italian fascist cinema, and De Sica was able to decline the offer, arguing that he had to finish filming before committing to the Holy Father.
Still from "The Gate of Heaven"
Without much notice, De Sica managed to delay the filming for as long as necessary until the Allies liberated Rome on June 4, 1944. Three hundred people, mostly Jews, managed to save their lives thanks to the Pope and Vittorio de Sica . In 1945, and after some disagreement between the Holy Father and the director, the film was released without regret... but with great glory .
As to whether Pius XII should have done more against Nazi barbarism, we will know in the next five years when the Vatican makes public the documents related to his pontificate.