Eugenio Pacelli reports to Gasparri about his visit to a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany - Oct. 17, 1917
Source: Timeline
Oct. 17, 1917 Pacelli reports to Gasparri about his visit to a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany.
English translation
Oct. 17, 1917 Pacelli to Gasparri:
In compliance with the venerated instructions imparted to me by Your Most Reverend Eminence via Your encrypted cable of August 26th, and after having accomplished the considerable operations necessary, whether it be with the Military Authorities here, or with Switzerland to expedite the packets, about which I had the honor to communicate to Your Eminence by my respectful Report No. 638, I was finally able today to visit the prisoner-of-war camp at Puchheim, where more than six hundred French and one thousand Russian prisoners are quartered, almost all of them simple soldiers or non-commissioned officers.
Arriving at the aforesaid camp, accompanied by the Secretary of the Nunciature, by General Voetter and by His Highness Prince Oettingen-Wallerstein, a Lieutenant à la Suite in the Army, placed at my disposal by the War Ministry here, I found all the prisoners (with the exception of those who were sick and those who were occupied with work in the camps) gathered together, despite the rather cold temperature, in an open area; and having the French come closer to me (to whom alone it was possible for me to speak in their language), I directed the following words to them:
“My dear friends. I feel a deep emotion and a true satisfaction in being among you at this moment, and in being able to express to you in person the sentiments of paternal tenderness and affectionate devotion with which He whom I represent, your father and mine, the Sovereign Pontiff, does not cease to surround you in all your trials.
“You know all that Pope Benedict XV has already done and all that he would still like to do to ameliorate the lot of unfortunate prisoners of war. While I was working with Him at the Vatican, I was often moved in realizing, at the moment when He was giving me His orders, to what extent Our Holy Father was expressing His benevolent solicitude for the prisoners. One could say that He does not cease to think of them, to reflect on possible ways to soften the sorrows of their situation.
“How deeply I would like to have you feel, my friends, this tenderness of the Pope! It is in His name and with His great heart that I say to you: Courage and trust! When at times your life at the moment may seem heavier, remember immediately that Someone carried for us, by love, by devotion, a Cross even more heavy and no less bloody, and seek in prayer a new strength to climb your Calvary!
“Your Cross, it is made heavier by the thought of your families, by this so painful separation from all whom you love, by the same thought that your own captivity causes them to suffer. It is also prayer that will console you, because prayer will bring you close to those who are praying for you at the same instant perhaps that you yourself are praying for them.
“Yes, it is at the foot of the Cross, it is upon the Heart of Our Lord, that you will most surely find a bit of consolation in your trials, more strength to endure with a valor worthy of Christians and Frenchmen.
“The visible center of this consolation and of this strength, as you know, is in the very heart of the Pope. It is from this living source that I will draw the blessing, directly in His name and by His will, that I am going to invoke upon you, as the token of His inexhaustible love, His unceasing devotion for you who are His sons and are all the more dear to Him the more unfortunate you are.”
After this I imparted the benediction and immediately had the packets distributed, which were pre-positioned at my side on two large tables. Each of them was bundled in paper bearing the imprint of the papal tiara and the message: “The Holy Father offers with blessing,” and contained 200g of chocolate, 1 packet of biscotti, 6 packets of American cigarettes, 125g of soap, 1 breakfast chocolate milk, 100g of tea, 200g of sugar. To the French priest Deschamps, himself a prisoner of war, with spiritual care for Catholics detained in that camp, I gave the task of distributing the medals, which I had brought with me, to those he believed most opportune, having regard to the religion and principles they professed. Then a long and pitiful line of prisoners began to pass before me (many of whose martyrdom has lasted for more than three years), the greater part of them in tattered clothes, pallid, dirty, some of them, especially among the Russians, half in a daze. All of them, French, Russian Catholics, Russian Schismatics (with the sole exception of the Russian Jews), respectfully kissed my ring, thanking me movingly, and more than one asked me to express to His Holiness sentiments of deepest gratitude for His charity and His condescension. I spoke some words of comfort to them and wanted to inform myself about their condition; but it was impossible for them to open up sincerely, since they were always surrounded by German officers who, especially whenever any prisoner showed an interest in talking with me, came ever closer with the obvious intention of listening to our conversation. So, under the watchful guard of their keepers, the greater part of them responded in a sad manner that they were fine; some, not having perhaps the strength, stared at me, without offering a word, with inexpressive, sad, anguished eyes. Only at the end of the visit did I succeed, by eluding for the moment the vigilance of the officers, in talking freely, albeit with utmost circumspection, with a Frenchman. He confided to me the moral suffering of the poor prisoners, told me the food is completely insufficient, and that packets sent by their own families are not delivered or have some of their contents removed.
The distribution of packets being finished, I was accompanied by the aforesaid Genral Voetter and the local Commandant to visit the vast camp...
Within days I will visit the important camp at Ingolstadt, where many officers, in addition to the simple men of the troops, are confined.
Bowing to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 4021.