Maruggio: on the occasion of his death, the Police dedicate an olive tree to Giovanni Palatucci.
This morning, on the occasion of the anniversary of the death of Giovanni Palatucci, former Police Commissioner of Fiume, which occurred last February 10, the Police Commissioner of Taranto Massimo Gambino wanted to remember him by placing a plaque under an olive tree in Piazza San Giovanni in the municipality of Maruggio. The Mayor of Maruggio and the highest civil, military and religious authorities of the Ionian province took part in the ceremony.
Born in Montella on 31 May 1909 in the Province of Avellino, after graduating in giurisprudenza at the University of Turin, in 1936 he was sworn in as a volunteer deputy commissioner of public security.
In 1937 he was transferred to the Fiume Police Headquarters as responsible of the Foreigners Office and then as commissioner and commissioner regent.
Having the opportunity to know the impact that the racial laws had on the Jewish population, he tried to do what his position allowed him, creating a path to save many Jews from the extermination camps. An approximate calculation has estimated the number of foreign and Italian Jews whom Palatucci helped to save themselves from the Nazi fury during his stay in Fiume at more than 5.000.
The Swiss Consul of Trieste, a dear friend of his, offered him a passage safely to Switzerland, an offer that Palatucci accepted, sending in her place her young Jewish friend, originally from Karlovać, Mika Eisler (born Maria) who, finding herself alone after the separation from her husband, a certain Weiss, to avoid the danger that loomed over her and her family, she was forced to hastily abandon her country to take refuge in Fiume where, shortly afterwards, she was joined by her mother Dragica Braun.
Il 13 September 1944 he was arrested by the German soldiers and sent to Trieste prison. The 22 October he was transferred to the Dachau forced labor camp, where he died two months before liberation, at just 36 years old.
Il April 17, 1955, he was granted the Gold Medal in memory by the Union of the Israelite Communities of Italy for his works in favor of Jews and other persecuted people.
Il 12 September 1990 Yad Vashem, the national body for the remembrance of the Holocaust in Jerusalem, recognizes him as "Righteous among the nations".
Il 15 May 1995 the Italian Republic awarded him the Gold Medal of Civil Merit for having done his utmost to help thousands of persecuted Jews and citizens, managing to prevent their arrest and deportation, despite being aware of the very serious personal risks.
Il 21 March 2000 the Vicariate of Rome issued an Edict for the opening of the beatification process of Giovanni Palatucci, which formally took place on 9 October 2002 and in 2004 he was proclaimed Servant of God.
“In this complicated international scenario, the figure of the Police Commissioner of Fiume is more emblematic than ever: that of a man, who during the madness of the Second World War had the opportunity to "do good" as he himself stated in a brief missive sent to loved ones. By not complying with the racial laws, saving thousands of Jews at the cost of his own life, Palatucci is an example of solidarity and dignity also for the new generations and is a point of reference for all the women and men of the State Police in their daily commitment to service of citizens". These are the words that the Police Commissioner of Taranto expressed this morning during the plaque affixing ceremony, with thanks to the Mayor of Maruggio Alfredo Longo for his willingness to dedicate the city olive tree to the figure of a policeman, with thanks to the Bishop of Oria SE Rev. Vincenzo Pisanello for the moment of religious reflection that he wanted to dedicate to the anniversary and to the Prefect of Taranto Dr. Paola Dessì for her words of greeting.
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