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Sixty-one
years ago, on Tuesday 15th February 1944, the Benedictine Monastery
of Montecassino was destroyed by Allied bombs. Italy, it must be remembered,
was Germany's ally, until July 1943 when King Victor Emmanuel III removed
Mussolini as head of the Government, putting Pietro Badoglio in his
place. From then on, Italy was on the side of the Allies. The Allied
troops began their offensive in Italy by penetrating Sicily and embarking
at Salerno in mid 1943 and slowly tried to gain ground by making their
way north to Rome. The war reached the area of Montecassino in July
1943 when the military airport at Aquino was hit, and then the town
of Cassino itself was bombed in September 1943. Civilians, as well as
Religious sisters whose convents had been badly hit made their way up
the mountain to the monastery, to Montecassino, seeking refuge. Surely,
they thought, no one would bomb this holy house that contained the mortal
remains of Saint Benedict and his sister, St. Scholastica. Even the
Abbot, dom Gregorio Diamare thought likewise, albeit that the Episcopal
palace at Cassino had been destroyed. (He was both the Abbot of Montecassino
and the Ordinary of the diocese of Cassino.)
Considering its position, Montecassino had an advantage of being an
excellent “look out post”, dominating the whole valley below.
Were the Germans in the Monastery, looking down from this vantage point
on the Allied forces' every move? No, they were not. At no time whatsoever
did the German troops take over or live in the Monastery, and they also
respected an area of 300 metres around the Monastery precincts. The
German soldiers would only enter the Monastery (ruins) when the monks
had left, on 17th February; and three months later, on 18th May 1944,
the Allies would take “possession” of the Monastery, the
Germans being driven further north. The Allies would enter Rome in June
1944.
That the Germans were not, therefore, in the Monastery, is objective
truth, as told me by dom Agostino (+1999), - one of the monks who lived
through all of this, including the bombing, and survived. (See also
the book “Il Bombardamento di Montecassino” war diary of
dom Eusebio and dom Martino).
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Objective
credit must also be given to two German officers, - Lt. Colonel Julius
Schlegel, (a Catholic), and Captain Maximilian Becker, (a Protestant),
both of the Herman Goering Division. On 14th October 1943, these two
soldiers, in separate interviews with the Abbot, told him that they
could not guarantee that the Monastery would not be destroyed, and for
this reason they strongly recommended the Abbot to remove the Monastery
library, archives works of art and other treasures to safer surroundings,
e.g. Castel Sant' Angelo or even further north of Rome. They also thought
it would be prudent if the monks left too.
Dom Gregorio was skeptical. How could he be sure that these treasures
would be placed in sure surroundings and not taken to Germany? He asked
for time to think so as to be able to discuss this with the community.
After a heated discussion with the whole community, it was agreed to
move all to Rome, to safer surroundings. The first consignment of books
left for Rome on 19th October and over the next few weeks everything
else would be packed and sent to Rome. The Germans also gave passage
to the Religious sisters who had sought refuge at Montecassino to other
convents in Rome. Thanks thus to the initiative of these two German
officers, the monastery library of 70,000 books, the archives containing
80,000 documents (eg. the works of St. Gregory the Great, hand written
works of St. Thomas Aquinas) works of art and other treasures belonging
to the Italian State and the Italian Royal Family, were saved from perdition
when the Monastery was destroyed.
Of the eighty monks, all except 11 would accompany the documents and
archives to Rome. Dom Tommaso Leccisotti would leave with the first
consignment, being given the task of liaising for the Monastery with
the Italian Government and the Vatican Secretary of State. From the
diary of dom(s) Eusebio and Martino we read: “3rd November 1943;
The Abbot decides to remain at Montecassino. (…) Remains therefore,
all to see and as a guarantee before everybody, the superior of the
Abbey, its official authority. Of the monastic community the following
remain at Montecassino with the German command's permission:
1)
the most reverend Abbot, dom Gregorio Diamare, aged 79;
2) dom Oderisio Graziosi, aged 39;
3) dom Martino Matronola, aged 40;
4) dom Agostino Saccomanno, aged 34;
5) dom Nicola Clemente, aged 33;
6) dom Eusebio Grossetti, aged 33;
7) fra (Brother) Carlo Pelagalli, aged 79;
8) fra Pietro Nardone, aged 39;
9) fra Giacomo Ciaaldi, aged 30;
10) fra Romano Collela, aged 24;
11) fra Zaccaria di Raimo, aged 30.”.
All the monks would survive the bombing of the monastery, with the exception
of dom Eusebio Grossetti, who would die of typhoid on 13th February,
two days before.
In the year 2000, the only monk still alive of this group was Fra Giacomo
(James) Ciaraldi. (Those of us who went to Montecassino during our Holy
Year pilgrimage will perhaps remember seeing him in the monastery bookshop.)
On the 14th February 1944, the Allies (The Fifth Army) dropped leaflets
on and around the monastery telling civilians to leave the area.
It read: “Italian friends, ATTENTION! Up until now we have tried to avoid bombing the monastery of Montecassino. The Germans have taken advantage of this. But now the fighting has gotten even closer to this Holy area. The time has come where, unfortunately, we have position our arms against the Monastery itself.
We
are telling you this so that you have the possibility of saving yourselves.
Our warning is urgent: Leave the Monastery. Go away immediately. Respect
this warning. It is being given to you for your own good. THE FIFTH
ARMY.
The Monastery was bombed the following day. Many civilians died. From
dom Tommaso Leccisotti's diary we read: “Tuesday 15th February.
A day of mourning and sorrow. The English radio informs us that Montecassino
was this morning bombed over a long period of time because the Germans
had transformed it into a fortress. (…) To complete this I quote
what a daily paper had as its headline: The enemy orders the destruction
of the historical abbey of Montecassino”. The newspaper continues:
“The Vatican had formally asked Germany and the Allies to avoid
the horror of the destruction of the Abbey. It is said that the Germans
have made the Abbey into a fortress. Therefore the Allied commanders
asked themselves for how long they could avoid attacking the Abbey.
However, the Allies did not waste time. The latest information tells
us that they dropped leaflets warning civilians to leave the area for
their own safety.”
The
evening paper informs of us of the following: “This morning at
about 9.30 a squadron of 30 bombers repeatedly bombed the Monastery
which has been almost completely destroyed. The Germans deny ever being
in the Monastery.” We will know the truth if the monks who were
there are able to make it to Rome.
All in all, from the 15th February 1944 until the 18th May 1944 when
it was “liberated” by the Allies, 1,500 planes would drop
2,500 tons of bombs on the Monastery.
In a subsequent article, we will “relive” the bombing of
the Monastery as written in the diary of dom Martino Matronola, the
diary that was abandoned amidst the ruins but was found and returned
to him.
