Within weeks of Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, Pope Pius XII received a request from a group of senior German military officers to join them in a conspiracy to remove the Führer from power and then swiftly end hostilities after staging a coup. The officers let Pius know, however, that they were only prepared to act after first gaining assurances from the Allies that, were they to do so, they and Germany would receive fair treatment in any ensuing peace treaty, unlike how, in their estimation, Germany had been treated at the end of World War One.
This is where the need for Pius’ involvement came in. His desired role in the conspiracy was to be that of honest broker and intermediary between the German conspirators and the Allies. Only he, the former reckoned, had the necessary credibility and legitimacy to be able to serve as a universally trusted go-between in their dealings with the latter.
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