While the Vatican had an interest in preserving former Nazis within Europe, the Pope himself had his reasons for keeping Adolf Hitler’s followers alive and well. Pope Pius XII was staunchly anti-Semitic and anti-Communist, and as one of his first acts as the supreme pontiff, he rehabilitated a French far-right fascist group condemned by his predecessor (via Owlcation). The length of his involvement in the Nazi migration is not fully known. But his inaction against the Holocaust and preference for Nazis in South America to aid anti-communist governments means it is very likely that he would have approved the Vatican’s methods. In addition, the Red Cross was overwhelmed with refugees and asked the Vatican to help deal with the thousands of travel papers that piled on their desks. The result was the spread of Nazis across Europe, North America, and South America — sometimes along with escaping Jews.

The Red Cross was not entirely ignorant of the Nazis crossing borders. Though the organization has since condemned their inaction, at the time it deemed itself too busy to fully deal with the situation. Meanwhile, a Nazi-sympathizing bishop named Alois Karl Hudal created a series of “ratlines,” churches, and monasteries that Nazis could flee to and acquire false papers in a cruel and sinister twist on the Underground Railroad. Hudal thought himself a charitable man, rescuing scapegoats of the war, yet reportedly personally secured the safety of significant Holocaust officials. Ultimately, his actions show how far the Vatican strayed from morality during World War II and its build-up.