Vatican to release secret pre-war files
The Vatican announced this week that from February 15th, researchers will be allowed to see the documents of the Vatican Secret Archive pertaining to the relations between the Holy See and Germany between 1922-1939, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI. The catalogues that may be viewed are the following: Extraordinary Ecclesiastic Affairs, Bavaria (1922-1939), Germany (1922-1939), Vatican Secret Archive, and the Archive of the Apostolic Nunciature of Berlin (1922-1930). This last archive was severely damaged in 1945 because of the Berlin bombings and the fire at the Palace of the Apostolic Nunciature. For this reason, the documents for the years from 1931 to 1934 were almost completely destroyed. Other documents concerning National Socialism and the condemnation of racism may be found in the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. source: Vatican Information Service