and Communism During World War: What Really Happened. Graham often wrote a column for Columbia, the official magazine of the Knights of Columbus. Graham's research was not limited to the Vatican archives. When a family friend had mentioned that one of their neighbors in New York spent part of the Second World War as an escaped British prisoner-of-war living in the Vatican, he dropped what he was doing to fly to the US to meet with William C. Simpson. Simpson who had become part of Hugh O'Flaherty's network, later wrote a book on the subject titled A Vatican Life Line in 1996. Graham criticised what he called "irresponsible muddying of the well-springs of history" by some writers on the Vatican during the Second World War. He felt that had Pius XII spoken out more forcefully against Nazi persecution, "Hitler would have gone on a rampage of revenge - not only against Jews but against German bishops as well." Graham regarded the refutation of accusations against Pius XII as vital. "While his detractors can no longer injure him, their slanders and insinuations continue to plague the Church, for when a Pope is defamed, the Church suffers." In matters regarding Pius XII, he worked with Raimondo Spiazzi. He revanched himself with ever new details, documents, or letters, which he continued to discover long after his 80th birthday. The New York Times quoted him "I am 79, I thought I ought to unload this stuff, before I pop off" Graham remained in Rome until illness struck in 1996, when he returned to his native California. He died in 1997, aged 84, leaving behind a large body of published and unpublished work. Publications Alvarez, David and Graham, Robert A. Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage Against the Vatican, 1939-1945, Routledge, 1997. Graham, Robert A, The Vatican and Communism during World War II, What Really Happened, Ignatius Press, 1996. Graham. Robert A. The Pope in Poland in World War Two, Veritas, 1968 Graham, Robert A., Vatican Diplomacy: A Study of Church & State on the International Plane, Princeton University Press, 1959. References External links Robert Graham, S.J. Defense of Jews and Others Catholic Answers: How Pius XII Protected Jews 1912 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American Jesuits 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians Historians of the Catholic Church People from Sacramento, California People from Los Gatos, California University of Geneva alumni Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni