Roosevelt Franklin
Roosevelt WWII Letter Re: The Nazis and The Vatican, Fantastic

Roosevelt, Franklin D., as thirty-second President Typed letter signed on White House Stationary, 1 page, 8" x 10.5". Dated "30 March 1944" and boldy signed by Franklin Roosevelt as "Franklin Roosevelt", to the Bishop of Fort Wayne, the Reverend John F. Noll; White House stationery. Presented matted, framed and glazed to a completed size of 15.5" x 18".



FDR TO BISHOP NOLL: "If it develops that we are forced to fight in [Rome] … it will be because the enemy has so disposed himself as to force that action. He alone will be responsible."

On 22 March 1944, Bishop Noll wrote to President Roosevelt, urging that the Allied forces by-pass the Vatican City and Rome. FDR forwarded the letter to General George C. Marshall, requesting a preparation of reply for his signature:

"The thoughts you expressed in your letter of March twenty-second have been uppermost in my mind for many weeks. I earnestly hope that the present campaign will develop in such a manner as to permit the Allied forces to circumvent Rome and spare the Eternal City from war's devastation. While the safety of our military personnel must of necessity be the prime consideration in this great conflict and much will depend upon the strategic requirements, I can say without prejudice to military security that every effort will be made to drive the enemy northward without a battle within the precincts of Rome. If it develops that we are forced to fight in that city, it will be because the enemy has so disposed himself as to force that action. He alone will be responsible. Our commanders in the field are under instructions to spare those shrines which are so dear to the heart of the Christian and civilized world. I believe that these orders are being scrupulously obeyed. If as a consequence of this total war some sacred and historic edifices are damaged or destroyed, we can rest confident in the thought that still greater monuments will arise in a world spiritually cleansed by this great struggle."

After liberating the island of Sicily and moving northward through Italy, the Allied forces were stopped at Cassino in the Fall of 1943, just ninety miles south of Rome. The Nazis, entrenched within the monastery at Monte Cassino, kept the Allies at bay for more than six months; they knew the Allies could not advance on Rome without capturing Cassino. On 12 February, leaflets were dropped on the city, warning that the monastery, hitherto exempted from shelling, was about to fall under attack. "Allied bombers struck at the monastery on Monte Cassino. In four hours, more than four hundred tons of bombs were dropped on one of the shrines and showpieces of early medieval Christian culture ... The monastery itself was reduced to ruins" (Gilbert, The Second World War, p. 498). Allied forces, however, would not take Cassino until 18 May in spite of repeated assaults by land and by sea. Rome, liberated just 17 days after the fall of Cassino, survived the war virtually unscathed with the Vatican City completely intact.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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