Gregorij Rožman

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Bishop Gregorij Rožman and SS General Erwin Rösener in conversation
Bishop Gregorij Rožman and SS General Erwin Rösener in conversation

Gregorij Rožman (alternative spellings: Gregory, Gregori, Gregorio, Grigorij Rozman) (1883-1959) was a Bishop of Ljubljana, Slovenia (1930-1945). His prominent role in the Second World War has made him a controversial figure in Slovenia. While the Catholic Church in Slovenia and others maintain he was a pragmatist who sought the best for the people in difficult circumstances, extensive evidence leads many people to believe that he was a leading collaborator with Italian and German occupying forces.

He was born into a Slovene family in 1883 in Dolinčiče, (Austrian: Dolintschitschach) near Feistritz ob Bleiburg in Austria. He became a priest (1907) and a Doctor of Theology (1912). From 1919 he was a lecturer in canonical law at the Theological Faculty in Ljubljana, and was made Bishop of Ljubljana in 1930 [1].


Contents

[edit] War time collaboration

Rožman is known to have been an anti-Semite,[2] and passionately anti-communist [3], referring to the Partisans as "wolves and jackals" [4]. He was on friendly terms with SS General Erwin Rösener, who ordered mass executions of civilians [5] in Slovenia and was posthumously on the indictment at Nuremberg for war crimes [6].

Yugoslavia was invaded by the Wehrmacht on 6 April 1941; following their swift victory, Yugoslavia was partitioned by the Axis powers, with Ljubljana and much of the rest of Slovenia going to the Italian zone [7]. Rožman publicly welcomed the arrival of the Italians [8][9]. On 3 May 1941 the region was incorporated into Italy as a province[10], and Rožman wrote a memorandum to Mussolini saying

"Excellency! A decree has been published today, via which the Slovenian territory occupied by the Italian army has been incorporated into Italy. When I consider this, I thank your Excellency ... I express absolute loyalty and ask God to bless you and our aspirations for the welfare of our people" [11].

He celebrated masses for the Italian troops, and a mass of thanksgiving to Mussolini on 22 May 1941 at Ljubljana Cathedral [12]. Rožman referred to the Italians as powers "which God has established" with whom Church representatives will "be pleased to co-operate" [13].

In 1942, he began to attempt to turn his city from 'Red Ljubljana' into 'White Ljubljana', in other words, a place more sympathetic to the occupying forces [14]. From 1942 on, Rožman played a "leadership/co-ordination role" [15] in various anti-Partisan collaborationist militias; the Vaške Straze (Village Guards) and Slovenska legija (Slovenian Legion). On 12 September 1942 he sent a memorandum to Italian General Mario Robotti on behalf of those Slovenes ready to "seriously co-operate with the Italian authorities" asking Robotti to allow the formation of militia so that "subversive and rebellious elements [can be] suppressed" and that "weapons will be used against subversive elements that still endanger the country with either weapons or rebellious propaganda" [16].
On 21 June 1943, there was a large demonstration by women in Ljubljana appealing to Rožman to help secure the freedom of family members imprisoned by the Italians at Rab concentration camp and other places. It was reported that

“Bishop Rožman and other priests stood at the open windows, laughed at the women and insulted them" [17].

After the capitulation of Italy (September 1943), Ljubljana was occupied by the Germans. Rožman recommended to Friedrich Rainer, Nazi Gauleiter of Carinthia that notorious anti-Semite Leon Rupnik should be the president of the new provincial government [18], and Rupnik was then duly appointed on 22 September 1943. Rožman issued a pastoral letter on 30 November 1943, urging his faithful to fight for Germany. He claimed that

“only by this courageous fighting and industrious work for God, for the people and the Fatherland will we, under the leadership of Germany, assure our existence and better future in the fight against the Jewish conspiracy” [19].

He was frequently seen at formal and informal events chatting with SS General Erwin Rösener [20][21][22][23][24], the commander of German forces in the province. From 1943 until the end of the war, Rožman was closely associated [25] with the anti-Partisan, anti-communist and anti-Semitic [26][27] Domobranci, the Slovenian Home Guard forces formed by order of SS General Rösener on 24 September 1943 [28]. Rožman performed a mass religiously 'cleansing' the Domobranci prior to them swearing a collective oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler at Ljubljana central stadium on 20 April 1944 (see article on Slovenian Home Guard). In his Christmas message to the Domobranci at the end of 1944 Rožman wrote “You are defending your nation against wolves and jackals (…) who are poisoning souls with the foreign mentality of atheistic communism” [29]. On 30 January 1945 the Domobranci once again swore loyalty to Hitler; Rožman stood on the pedestal between Leon Rupnik and Erwin Rösener as they paraded past after the ceremony [30].

At the end of the war, he fled to the British zone of Austria [31]. Rožman was put on trial in absentia by the military court of the 4th Yugoslav Army in Ljubljana for treason and other crimes; convicted and sentenced in absentia to 18 years imprisonment on 30 August 1946 [32].

[edit] After the war

Various leading Catholic figures from Yugoslavia were indicted for war crimes but managed to escape. These included Bishop Ivan Šarić of Sarajevo, the ‘hangman of the Serbs’ who had set about forcibly converting the local Orthodox population to Catholicism. Rožman and Šarić were reported by the CIA to be living together at the Bishop’s Palace at Klagenfurt, Austria, in October 1946 [33]. Rožman began to appear in American and British intelligence reports as being involved in ratlines that spirited wanted Nazi and collaborationist fugitives out of Europe [34] [35]. Declassified documents also show that Bishop Rožman was funneling money to South America from a Swiss bank account set up "to aid refugees of the Catholic religion." U.S. military attaché Davis Harrington reported on 9 March 1948 [36] that "Rožman is going to Bern to take care of these finances. The money is in a Swiss bank, and he plans to have most of it sent through to Italy and from there sent to the Ustashas in Argentina" [37]

“In Berne, Rožman’s Ustashi friends were engaged in wholesale fraud, using the black market to convert the gold into dollars, and later, into Austrian schillings. ‘Aid to the refugees is accounted for at the official rate of exchange for dollars,’ the American officers noted, adding that ‘malpractices have been carried on (officially, the dollar is worth 10 schillings; on the black market, 100 to 150). According to reliable information: ‘Rožman is going to Berne to take care of these finances. The money is in a Swiss bank, and he plans to have most of it sent through to Italy and from there to the Ustaše in [the] Argentine.’” [38]

“A short time later Rožman duly arrived in Berne, accompanied by Bishop Ivan Šarić, the ‘hangman’ of Sarajevo. By the end of May 1948, Rožman had apparently carried out this money laundering operation for the Ustashi, for he visited the U.S. Consulate in Zurich and was given a ‘non-quota immigration visa as a minister of religion.’ He then traveled to the United States and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. The circle was now almost complete. Pavelić’s stolen ‘treasure’ had been tracked down through close monitoring of the movements and activities of the quisling Bishop of Ljubljana...” [39] [40]

After settling permanently in Cleveland, Ohio, Rožman is recorded as having visited Argentina on three occasions, in 1949, 1952 and 1956 [41]. He died in Cleveland on 16 November 1959.

[edit] Rehabilitation and lawsuits

In recent years, a campaign has been mounted by the Roman Catholic Church and others to rehabilitate the memory of Gregorij Rožman [42] [43] [44]. An official request for his rehabilitation was made by Slovenian Public Prosecutor Anton Drobnič prior to the visit to Slovenia by Pope John Paul II in 1999 [45]. On the basis, among other things, that he should have had the right to defend himself, Rožman's 1946 conviction has been overturned by the Slovenian Supreme Court (11 October 2007) and his case sent to the court of first instance for retrial, a decision welcomed by the Church [46][47].

There are various court cases pending regarding the post-war activities of Rožman and others, including Naumovic v Swiss National Bank [48], Levy v CIA and Alperin v Vatican Bank [49]. See also Class action suit against the Vatican Bank and others.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bishop Gregorio Rožman [Catholic-Hierarchy]
  2. ^ In a pastoral letter published on 30 November 1943 Rožman wrote "only by this courageous fighting and industrious work for God, for the people and the Fatherland will we, under the leadership of Germany, assure our existence and better future in the fight against the Jewish conspiracy."
    NŠAL, Tekoči arhiv, št. 3465, 30.11.1943 (the Diocesan Archive of Ljubljana, the Running Archive, no. 3465, 30 November 1943)
    Cited also at http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/canada-2.htm
    and in Italian at http://www.fisicamente.net/index-1523.htm#rozman
  3. ^ Rožman preached “To my last I will claim and teach that atheistic communism is the greatest evil and greatest accident for the Slovenian nation” See http://www.motosvet.com/tabla/lofiversion/index.php/t18705.html. At the funeral of Marko Natlačen, executed by the Partisans in October 1942, Rožman said there can be "no co-operation, no association with atheism or those for whom atheism is a leading opinion". In his Pastirsko pismo o nevarnosti brezbožnega komunizma (Pastoral letter on the dangers of atheistic communism) Rožman wrote “I know that advocates of communism and some other blind Catholics will reproach me that I am meddling in politics in a pastoral letter, which isn't a matter for a Bishop and doesn't appertain to the Church. But, dear believers, the battle against communism isn't political, but a religious matter, as it touches upon belief in God, one of the most basic truths of every faith, especially our Christian faith. To reject atheistic doctrines, to defend the truths of our global religion is a religious matter and a religious duty”. NŠAL, Tekoči arhiv, št. 3465, 30.11.1943 (the Diocesan Archive of Ljubljana, the Running Archive, no. 3465, 30 November 1943)
    Both quotes taken from http://www.rkc.si/aktualno/D000806.html
  4. ^ In his Christmas message to the Domobranci at the end of 1944 Rožman wrote “You are defending your nation against wolves and jackals (…) who are poisoning souls with the foreign mentality of atheistic communism”. Škof Rožman in kontinuiteta (Bishop Rožman and continuity), author Ivan Jan, Ljubljana 1998, p. 313. Also cited at http://24ur.com/bin/etconf.php?conf_id=419&page=16&start_page=16
  5. ^ One of Rösener's execution notices: http://shrani.si/files/0s3cj.jpg. It reads:
    "Notice. It has been ascertained that the majority of the male inhabitants of the villages of Gradische (Gradišče pri Lukovici) and Koreno, Kreis Stein, have joined bands [of rebels], while the rest of the population have constantly supported them with reports and food and despite their knowledge of the location and activities of bandits not notified the authorities. For this reason, both villages have been destroyed by fire, the male inhabitants aged over 18 have been shot and the rest of the population evicted".
    Two other notices of large scale executions ordered by Rösener in July and November 1942: http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/570/banditenbekanntmachungsty1.jpg
  6. ^ Count 3(C) MURDER AND ILL-TREATMENT OF PRISONERS OF WAR: “In Yugoslavia the German Command and the occupying authorities in the person of the chief officials of the Police, the SS troops (Police Lieutenant General Rosener) and the Divisional Group Command (General Kubler and others) in the period 1941-43 ordered the shooting of prisoners of war”. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/proc/count3.htm.
  7. ^ http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ETO/East/Balkans/maps/AG/AG-Balkans-3.jpg
  8. ^ Rožman pictured with Italian High Commissioner Emilio Grazioli in April 1941: http://www.delo.si/inc.zoom.php?ppID=188530&target=0
  9. ^ HISTORICAL ROOTS OF SLOVENIAN CHRISTOSLAVIC MYTHOLOGY by Mitja Velikonja http://www.georgefox.edu/academics/undergrad/departments/soc-swk/ree/velikonja.doc
  10. ^ May 1941
  11. ^ Ljubljanski škofijski list, (the Ljubljana Diocesan Gazette) 4-6, 31.7.1941; Tamara Griesser Pečar, France Martin Dolinar, 'Rožmanov Proces' p 52 Ljubljana 1996. See: http://www.rkc.si/aktualno/D000806.html
  12. ^ Kolaboracionizem In Klerofasizem
  13. ^ He had visited Italian High Commissioner Emilio Grazioli on Sunday 20 April 1941, two weeks after the Wehrmacht invasion, and, explaining his reasons for this in Ljubljanski škofijski list (the Ljubljana Diocesan Gazette) published on 31 July 1941 Rožman wrote that he had expressed to Grazioli the following:
    "the gratitude of the clergy and of believers that the military has occupied the region peacefully, kept order and allowed the people freedom, especially in a religious sense; regarding the co-operation of Church representatives with the new Fascist Italy, for we Catholics God’s word is decisive, which says 'Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no authority except God and those which God has established' (Romans 13:1). Via this standpoint we acknowledge the higher power that is above us and we will, following our consciences, be pleased to co-operate to the honourable and eternal benefit of the people, among whom God’s care for priests is asked" .
    "We are grateful to God that He has inspired in the leader of Greater Italy the thoughts of generous justice and considerate wisdom with which His Majesty … suggested the foundation of the Ljubljana region".
    Ljubljanski škofijski list, 4-6, 31.7.1941; quoted by Tamara Griesser Pečar, France Martin Dolinar, 'Rožmanov Proces' p 50,52 Ljubljana 1996.
    See http://www.arnes.si/news/archive/si.misc/msg00722.html;
    http://www.rtvslo.si/blog/politkomisar/skof-rozman-in-opravicevanje-kolaboracije/1080;
    http://www.safaric-safaric.si/materiali_slo/xrazno/20031115%20DELO%20Hajsinger%20Revolucija.htm.
  14. ^ http://www.drustvo-zak.si/ilegalcki_spremna_beseda.pdf
  15. ^ Kolaboracionizem In Klerofasizem
  16. ^ In his memo to Robotti of 12 September 1942 Rožman wrote "As the sound portion of Slovenes, who have expressed readiness to seriously co-operate with the Italian authorities, so that order can again be established and subversive and rebellious elements suppressed, we suggest to the military authorities the following:
    That you allow the formation in all areas of armed security guards under Slovene command;
    Leaders will be chosen from the kinds of men, trustworthy, so that there will be ensured a universal guarantee that weapons will be used against subversive elements that still endanger the country with either weapons or rebellious propaganda;
    Apart from the security guards, deployed in places, it will be necessary to set up certain assembly centres under the command of former Yugoslav Army officers;
    For this purpose it would be necessary to allow some young reliable officers to return from prison camps, and this unnoticed, as if they were coming on leave. We would suggest their names…"
    The original of Rožman's memo has been lost; its German translation is in the Library of Congress in Washington. To it, Robotti added the remarks that "The security guards that the Bishop suggests, correspond with local militias that have the task of defending their villages against communists, and to be available for initiatives in the local area - there are many such militias, which count a total of 1,000 men. These are doing their work decisively, not only from a military standpoint, but also as police, as the Bishop says..." Ljudska oblast na Slovenskem 1941-1942, prva knjiga: Država v državi, (People's authority in Slovenia 1941-1942, first book: A state within a state); author: Tone Ferenc, published by Založba Borec - Partisan book, 1987. Also quoted by Jozo Tomašević in Vojna in revolucija v Jugoslaviji 1941-1945 (War and Revolution in Yugoslavia 1941-1945) 1975; Dušan Biber, Delo, April 1976.
    See also http://24ur.com/bin/etconf.php?conf_id=419&page=16&start_page=16
    http://www.skofljica.info/razmere41.htm
    http://forumi.rkc.si/viewtopic.php?p=411757&sid=b0f91e172f717e43441224b6d0b16f83
  17. ^ Festival Break 2.4
  18. ^ Tone Ferenc, The German Occupier in Ljubljana p211; Jozo Tomašević, War and Revolution in Yugoslavia 1941-1945 p122, available online at http://books.google.com/books?id=fqUSGevFe5MC&dq=the+chetniks+by+jozo+toma%C5%A1evi%C4%87&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=-LhVfrc7Pg&sig=5MdcxAM9qowMnXF0Szy38oeOC1k#PPR1,M1
  19. ^ NŠAL, Tekoči arhiv, št. 3465, 30.11.1943 (the Diocesan Archive of Ljubljana, the Running Archive, no. 3465, 30 November 1943) Cited also at http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/canada-2.htm
    and in Italian at http://www.fisicamente.net/index-1523.htm#rozman
  20. ^ Three photos of Leon Rupnik, SS General Erwin Rösener and Rožman. The first is outside the central stadium on what's now Dunajska cesta in Ljubljana, probably on 20 April 1944 or 30 January 1945 when the Domobranci swore oaths of allegiance to Hitler: http://muceniskapot.nuovaalabarda.org/galleria-slo-7.php
  21. ^ Rožman in conversation with Rupnik and Rösener. Date and place unknown. http://shrani.si/f/3f/xM/3SGacidX/rozman2.jpg
  22. ^ Rožman and Gen. Rösener sharing a joke: http://sagereport.blogspot.com/2006/10/who-is-this-priest-molesting.html
  23. ^ Domobranci leader Leon Rupnik, SS General Erwin Rösener and Rožman at the Domobranci oath-taking ceremony in Ljubljana, 20 April 1944: http://www.mladina.si/tednik/200417/clanek/slo--politika-ursa_matos/img/domobrani_rupnik_rozman.html-l2
  24. ^ Three photos of Rupnik, Rožman and Rösener on the stand in front of the Ursuline Church in Ljubljana at the Domobranci oath-taking ceremony on 30 January 1945:
    http://www.250kb.de/u/060426/j/efb134ec.jpg
    http://www.delo.si/inc.zoom.php?ppID=188530&target=1
    http://www.ericfrattini.com/top_secret/EL%20ARZOBISPO%20PRONAZI%20GREGORY%20ROZMAN%20PASA%20REVISTA%20A%20UNA%20UNIDAD%20DE%20LA%20SS.jpg
  25. ^ Rožman posing for a photo with a group of Domobranci soldiers: http://www.mladina.si/tednik/200625/clanek/slo--sprava-spomenka_hribar/img/tema_rozman_z_domobranci.html-l2
  26. ^ A Domobranci pamphlet entitled ‘What is Bolshevism?’ concluded with the words “This Jewish Bolshevism that, in Churchill's saying, is worse than death, is served by OF (the Partisans) with its bandit groups”. See
    http://users.volja.net/gremlin/slike/kaj%20je%20boljsevizem%203.html
    The same pamphlet also quoted Rožman on the subject of communism and atheism. See
    http://users.volja.net/gremlin/slike/kaj%20je%20boljsevizem2.html
  27. ^ Ljenko Urbančič, a central Domobranci figure was notorious for his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi propaganda in newspapers and on radio. His themes were invariably the same: communist Jews controlled Britain and the US, who were using ‘negroes’ in their war against Hitler's New Europe. In typical style, broadcasting on Radio Ljubljana in June 1944 Urbančič said:
    “All those Anglophiles – that word is actually wrong, as they are not Anglophiles, but fruitcakes – must bear in mind that our anti-Communist battle would be all in vain if we were to make such a fatal mistake and take today’s Anglo-American invasion troops for anything other than what they are, a Jewish-communist tool”.
    "... it is not important that I speak to you as the youngest Slovene journalist . . . [what is important is that] the truth which is older than I, which is centuries old [be proclaimed]. That is, the truth about all the vile intentions of the chosen people, the 15 million Israeli race roaming the world". He went on "We went to war for Jewish interests, for the benefit of international communism", and the responsibility rested "with those 'allies', the British, Soviets and Masons, and above all, and I stress the words above all, the Jews - sworn enemies of Christianity and all the non-Jewish world".
    Later in the broadcast he concluded with a tirade against the Chinese, Indian and African troops fighting against the Reich on European soil, and then with a rallying cry to his listeners to:
    “. . . follow our leader, the experienced and homeland-loving General Rupnik, about whom we can say that God himself has sent him to us . . . It is our duty to repeat over and over again, to exhaustion, that there is only one way, the way of General Rupnik”.
    Jutro 29 June 1944. See
    http://www2.arnes.si/~ljgozzb1/javnost17.htm
    http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/HansArt.nsf/V3Key/LC19970924041
    http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/ardent-nazi-took-liberal-to-extremes/2006/03/03/1141191845008.html?page=2
  28. ^ In his speech at the ceremony where the Domobranci swore allegiance to Hitler on 20 April 1944 Rösener said "On 24 September 1943 I issued the command for the foundation of Slovensko domobranstvo. From the few troops of the so-called White Guard legionnaires, as per my order, Slovensko domobranstvo has grown. With the help of the Greater German Reich, we have trained, clothed and armed you. Today you have taken an oath, that you will, together with the German Army, the military SS and police fight for the freedom of all of Europe”. Slovenec newspaper, 21 April 1944. See
    http://www2.arnes.si/~ljgozzb1/javnost17.htm
    http://www.sds.si/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1460&p=2
  29. ^ Škof Rožman in kontinuiteta (Bishop Rožman and continuity), author Ivan Jan, Ljubljana 1998, p. 313. Also cited at http://24ur.com/bin/etconf.php?conf_id=419&page=16&start_page=16
  30. ^ Mladina Foto
  31. ^ Ladislav Bevc, an eyewitness wrote that "Despite the British roadblocks around Lienz, the refugees generally could find a way to circumvent them and filter into Anras, a mountain village to which Bishop Rožman had removed himself. The bishop still had his car which was driven by his chaplain". See http://www.dangel.net/SLOVENIA/MyJourneyToFreedom.html
  32. ^ NYT 31 Aug 1946:3:1. see photocopy of report at http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=25192
  33. ^ Jasenovac - Donja Gradina: Industry of Death 1941-45
  34. ^ All Roads Lead To Rome by Christopher Hamblin
  35. ^ MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, Stephen Dorril, The Free Press, New York, 2000, pp. 864-907. ISBN 0-7432-0379-8. pp 330, 332, 335, 339, 341-2, 350, 434
  36. ^ Harrington CIC memo of 9 March 1948, 'Activity of Bishops Rozman and Saric´, released under US FoIA; Airgram from Berne to State Department, USNA, Myron Taylor Papers, Box 21
  37. ^ Susan Headden, Dana Hawkins, and Jason Vest, A Vow of Silence, U.S. News (March 30, 1998) available online at http://www.reformation.org/usnews.html
  38. ^ Unholy Trinity The Vatican, the Nazis, and the Swiss Banks by John Loftus and Mark Aarons 1998, St. Martin's Press ISBN:031218199x.; pp. 132-133.
  39. ^ Ibid.; p. 133.
  40. ^ For The Record Summary Posts
  41. ^ Poglej temo - nadškof dr. Gregorij Rožman :: Forum slovenske desničarske mladine
  42. ^ The South Slav Journal
  43. ^ Poglej temo - nadškof dr. Gregorij Rožman :: Forum slovenske desničarske mladine
  44. ^ RKC (Aktualno)
  45. ^ Vecernje novosti, February 13, 1996
  46. ^ Mediascrape | War trial judgement released
  47. ^ The Slovenia Times - Supreme Court Repeals Conviction of Bishop Rožman - Politics - Daily News
  48. ^ Vatican asks court, U.S. government to dismiss lawsuit over Nazi gold
  49. ^ Vatican Bank Claims


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