Rabbi Israel Zolli (1881-1956) was the former Chief Rabbi of Rome who helped save 4,000 Roman Jews as the Nazis entered Rome in 1943. Posing as a structural engineer, he asked Pope Pius XII to protect Rome’s Jews. The pope acquiesced and agreed to make churches, monasteries, convents, and the Vatican sanctuaries. Prior to coming to Rome, Zolli served 35 years as Chief Rabbi of Trieste.

Following the war, Rav Zolli made a public confession of faith in 1945 and was forced out of his position. When asked if he therefore believed that the Messiah had come, he said:

“Yes, positively. I have believed it many years. And now I am so firmly convinced of the truth of it that I can face the whole world and defend my faith with the certainty and solidity of the mountains.”

Jewish leaders called him a heretic, excommunicated him, proclaimed a fast for several days in atonement for his “treason,” and mourned him as one dead.