21. Dr. Borromeo trained the patients to appear sick at all times
When Dr. Borromeo explained the strange new illness which resembled tuberculosis and was virulently contagious to the Germans, he described its debilitating effect, and the appearance of the patients. Through the Germans declined at first an opportunity to inspect the wards, German soldiers and police could visit the hospital at any time. It was therefore vital that the patients presented themselves in the manner described to the Germans. The patients were instructed by Borromeo and the other doctors and priests in the hospital on their behavior. They were to appear as fatigued, listless, and possessed of a deep, wracking cough, while within the hospital.
According to Borromeo’s account, the patients remained in the hospital long enough to create false identities for them, after which they were transferred to safe havens, many of them operated under the direction of the Vatican. The movement of the patients was facilitated by Father Bialek and Borromeo, who then corrected the hospital records to indicate the patient had been released. Having been both admitted and released under an assumed identity, the trail for Nazi inspectors was left cold. In May, 1944, less than a month before the Germans abandoned Rome, the hospital was raided by the Germans.