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LETTER TO STURMBANNFÜHRER KESSEL
155 VIA TASSO, ROME
The appropriate members of the Vatican Council have read your unexpected and abrupt communication. I can give you an absolute assurance that no relic or item such as the bronze head you describe has recently come into the possession of the Vatican. His Holiness Pope Pius XII is, however, concerned by the implications of your letter, which he sees as a serious breach of etiquette.
The Vatican Council is unaware of the Department you claim to represent. Baron Ernst Von Weizsäcker, the German ambassador to the Holy See, has been informed, with a request to investigate the existence of such a Department. He will no doubt also be interested in the clear threat you have made. Your senior officer has been informed and his Holiness trusts that appropriate action will be taken.
MONSIGNOR GIOVANNI BATTISTA MONTINI
VATICAN SOSTITUTO SECRETARY OF STATE
Shout in the Dark Page 21
