 Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Maglione received a request from Chief Rabbi of Palestine Isaac Herzog in the spring of 1940 to intercede on behalf of Lithuanian Jews about to be deported to Germany . Pius called Ribbentrop on 11 March , repeatedly protesting against the treatment of Jews . In 1940 , Pius asked members of the clergy , on Vatican letterhead , to do whatever they could on behalf of interned Jews . 
