First revelation of one of the most horrible ans still controversial episodes in World War II - the Ardeatine Caves massacre in Rome
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Controversial Conclusions Continue to Reverberate,
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This review is from: Death in Rome (Hardcover)
This 1967 best seller, Death in Rome by Robert Katz, recounts the infamous Ardeatine Caves massacre, retribution by the Germans for a partisan attack on SS troops in Rome. Death in Rome is presented from the perspective of varied participants, many whom Katz was able to interview personally. The narrative style employed by Katz is quite similar to that used by Cornelius Ryan in his immensely popular book, The Longest Day.
Death in Rome is fast paced and suspenseful; in many ways it is more like a adventure thriller than a historical account. The normally punctual SS troops were several hours late on that fateful day, severely testing the nerve and will of the partisans as they waited for the column to appear along the narrow Via Rasella in the center of Rome. Hitler was furious and ordered the immediate execution of ten Italians for every German killed. The obsequious Himmler went further and urged the immediate deportation of all Italian men from Rome. The author's controversial accusation that Pope Pius XII had become aware of the German orders for reprisal and chose not to intervene for political reasons catapulted this book onto the best seller's list. However, in 1974 Katz was prosecuted in Rome on libel charges that his unjust accusation of Pope Pius's complicity in the Ardeatine Caves massacre was "defaming the memory" of the pope. He was found guilty and sentenced, but eventually upon appeal his case was dismissed on the basis of a general amnesty, not on the specific merits of the case. Robert Katz has continued to write on this topic, and recently (2003) he published a more lengthy book titled The Battle for Rome: The Germans, The Allies, The Partisans, and The Pope, September 1943 - June 1944. Katz remains critical of Pope Pius XII. The 1967 first edition, hard cover Macmillan publication of Death in Rome is immediately recognizable by its vivid dust jacket; green, white, and red bands of the modern Italian flag are overlain by a black swastika. In 1968 Pyramid publishers released a mass market paperback edition with a bright red cover.
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