Ithasallthehallmarksofabest-sellingfictionalthriller:espionage,conspiracy,astruggleagainstevilpowers,undercoverworkbydarkofnight...butit’salltrue.TheScarletandtheBlacktellstheastonishingandheroictruestoryofMonsignorHughO’Flaherty,themandubbed“TheScarletPimperneloftheVatican“duringWorldWarII.BorninKillarney,Ireland,HughO’Flahertywasanavidathlete--becomingaformidableboxer,handballplayer,hurler,andgolfer.Fromanearlyage,however,heknewhiscallingwastothepriesthood.Afterhisordination,heservedfirstasanApostolicDelegateinEgypt,Haiti,SantoDomingo,andCzechoslovakia,theninRomeattheHolyOffice(nowtheCongregationfortheDoctrineoftheFaith).ItwashereinRomethathisgreatestworkbegan.AfterthesurrenderofItalyin1943,RomecameunderthecommandofNaziColonelHerbertKapplerofthedreadedSS,whobeganthedeportationofItalianJewstoAuschwitz.KapplerwasanotorioushateroftheJews,persecutingthemateveryturn.AsatopmanintheVaticanHolyOffice,Msgr.O’Flahertysprangintoaction,organizingasophisticatedteamthatincludedmenandwomenofmanynationalities,religions,andpoliticalviews.Therewasonegoal--tosaveJewsandPOWsfromtheNazimachine.DespiteKappler’snumerousattemptstoassassinatehim,O’Flahertypersisted,andhiseffortssavedthousandsofJewsandPOWs.Usingprivatehomesandapartments,churchesandmonasteries,theeffortwasallorchestratedbyMsgr.O’Flaherty.EachdayhisfamiliarfigurewouldstandonthestepsofSt.Peter’s-neutralgroundthateventheNaziswouldn’tviolate-towelcomeanyfugitiveswhomightbesenthisway.Alltold,of9,700RomanJews,mostweresaved,with1,007shippedtoAuschwitz.Therestwerehidden,5,000ofthembytheofficialChurch-3,000atthePope’sCastelGandolfo,200or400(estimatesvary)as“members“ofthePalatineGuard,andsome1,500inmonasteries,conventsandcolleges.Theremaining3,700werehiddeninprivatehomes,includingMsgr.O’Flaherty’snetworkofapartments.Afterthewar,O’FlahertywashonoredbyvariousAlliedcountrieswithawardsanddecorationsforhisheroicactstosaveJewsandPOWs.IllustratedThisclassicaccountbyJ.P.Gallagherwasadaptedintotheacclaimedtelevisionmovie,TheScarletandtheBlack,starringGregoryPeckasMsgr.O’FlahertyandChristopherPlummerasColonelKappler.Thisbookcannotbesoldinthefollowingcountries:AUSTRALIA,GREATBRITAIN,IRELAND,SOUTHAFRICA,
