Eugenio Zolli
Eugenio Pio Zolli (born September 17, 1881 as Israel Zoller in Brody , Galicia , then part of Austria-Hungary , † March 2, 1956 in Rome ) was the Grand Rabbi of Rome and a Holocaust survivor . He converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1945.
Career until 1940
Israel Zoller, who, despite his Jewish faith, dealt with Christianity early on, studied philosophy in Vienna and Florence and at the same time at the rabbinical college there. In 1911 he became vice- rabbi in Trieste , where he was promoted to chief rabbi in 1920. He married and had a daughter. In 1933, Zoller received Italian citizenship and changed his surname to Zolli.
In the same year he received the chair of Hebrew language and literature at the University of Padua . After the rise of National Socialism and the accompanying Europe-wide persecution of Jews, he had to give it up again.
Grand Rabbi of Rome
In 1940 Israel Zolli was called to Rome as Grand Rabbi, where the oldest Jewish community in the western world was located. The persecution of the Jews had also spread there. On September 27, 1943, SS Colonel Herbert Kappler , at that time the commander of the security police in Rome, requested the delivery of 50 kilograms of gold by the Jewish community in Rome, which they could not afford. Zolli then turned to Pope Pius XII. to ask him for help in the community. Zolli and other Roman Jews found refuge in churches and monasteries and thus survived the Holocaust. The Grand Rabbi himself was able to resume his office on June 4, 1944, after the arrival of Allied troops in Rome.
Convert to Christianity and last years of life
On July 25, 1944, Zolli had an audience with Pius XII to thank him for the help of numerous Catholics during the German occupation of Rome. At this point in time he already felt called to Christianity. In September 1944 he resigned from his post as Grand Rabbi. On February 13, 1945, he and his wife Emma finally received by the later Cardinal Luigi Traglia the baptism . Zolli took the name Eugenio Pio out of gratitude for Pius XII, whose real name was Eugenio Pacelli.
The news of Zolli's baptism caused an international sensation. Due to the sometimes negative reactions, he temporarily withdrew to the Pontifical Gregorian University . After 1945 he worked as a lecturer in Rome and wrote several books on anti-Semitism and Christian topics. He also appeared as an advocate of papal primacy in Protestant circles. Eugenio Zolli died in Rome in 1956 at the age of 74.
Web links
- Biography on santiebeati.it
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zolli, Eugenio |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Zolli, Eugenio Pio (full name); Zoller, Israel (maiden name); Zolli, Israel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Grand Rabbi of Rome, Holocaust survivor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th September 1881 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brody , Galicia , Austria-Hungary |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 2, 1956 |
| Place of death | Rome |