Pope Pius XII and the German resistance

[5] The Foreign Office and the Abwehr (Military Intelligence) of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) also provided vital support to the movement.

[6] Hitler's 1938 purge of the military was accompanied by increased militancy in the Nazification of Germany, a sharp intensification of the persecution of Jews and daring foreign policy exploits.

[8] With Poland overrun but France and the Low Countries yet to be attacked, the German resistance wanted the Pope's assistance in preparations for a coup to oust Hitler.

[10] Kaas put Müller in contact with Father Robert Leiber, who personally asked the Pope to relay the information about the German resistance to the British.

[14][3] Oster, Wilhelm Canaris, and Hans von Dohnányi, backed Beck, told Müller to ask Pius to ascertain whether the British would enter negotiations with the German opposition which wanted to overthrow Hitler.

[14] The Vatican agreed to send a letter outlining the basis for peace with England, and the participation of the Pope was used to try to persuade senior German Generals Halder and Brauchitsch to act against Hitler.

On 7 February, the Pope updated Osborne that the opposition wanted to replace the Nazi regime with a democratic federation but hoped to retain Austria and the Sudetenland.

[18] Alfred Jodl noted in his diary that the Germans knew that the Belgian envoy to the Vatican had been tipped off and that the Fuehrer was greatly agitated by the danger of treachery.

[20] Following the Fall of France, peace overtures continued to emanate from the Vatican as well as Sweden and the United States to which Churchill responded resolutely that Germany would first have to free its conquered territories.

[22] The activities of the Abwehr Military Intelligence resistance group around Hans Oster came under Gestapo surveillance by 1942, and Himmler was keen to shut down the rival security service.

[22] The raid marked a serious blow to the Resistance, which had started preparations for the 1944 July Plot coup d'état, amid growing support for their cause and ever-diminishing prospects for a German victory in the war.