10. Dr. Adriano Ossicini witnessed the German raid on the Jewish Ghetto
Dr. Adriano Ossicini was an ardent antifascist who believed it was the duty of Christians of all religions to oppose fascism and by extension Nazism and the Germans. He was by profession a psychiatrist with loose ties to Fatebenefratelli, where he offered his services as a volunteer. Ossicini maintained close ties with the Vatican, which used its influence with Mussolini’s government to have the doctor released following each of his several arrests prior to the German occupation of Rome. Dr. Ossicini was one of the many Italian intellectuals who used the hospital on the Tiber as a sanctuary, and was likely one of the cabal described by Dr. Sacerdoti as supporting the resistance.
As were near all the people of Rome, Ossicini was surprised at the raid on the Jewish Ghetto, the progress of which could be observed from the hospital. He later reported that he could hear the wailing of women as they were taken into German custody, as well as the shouts of the SS guards and German police. Ossicini watched the proceedings before being called to assist other members of the hospital’s staff. Several of the people who had escaped from the ghetto had fled to the island on the Tiber, and were at the gates of the hospital. The Italian doctors, with the support of the hospital’s Catholic Prior, determined to shield as many as they could from SS retaliation.