Tribute from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and the Pisa Police Headquarters to Giovanni Palatucci, the police commissioner of Fiume who died in Dachau on 10 February 1945 and who managed to save the lives of 5,000 Jewish people
The Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and the Police Headquarters in Pisa paid tribute to Giovanni Palatucci, police commissioner of Fiume who died in the Dachau concentration camp on 10 February 1945, by laying a wreath of flowers at the foot of the olive tree planted in his memory in the garden of the Sant'Anna School headquarters.
Palatucci was the regent of the Police Headquarters in Fiume until 13 September 1944, the day he was arrested by the German SS, and subsequently transferred to the Dachau concentration camp. Before he was arrested, Giovanni Palatucci had helped to save at least 5,000 Jewish people from concentration camps. For these actions, he has been included among the ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ since 1990.
The commemoration was attended by the rector Sabina Nuti, the police commissioner of Pisa Raffaele Gargiulo, the prefect of Pisa Maria Luisa D'Alessandro, and Frida Scarpa, the councillor for relations with the university institutions of the municipality of Pisa.
The statements
‘The olive tree we planted in honour of Giovanni Palatucci has become a point of reference for our community. Every day, dozens of young people stop here to reflect on the story of a man who was an example of public commitment, of sacrifice for others, of values that must be the basis of humanity, even in the most tragic periods of our history,’ comments Sabina Nuti, rector of the Sant'Anna School.
‘In the face of Palatucci's example, we remember institutional figures who have worked hard for others, sacrificing the supreme good of life. I believe that the meaning of our commitment lies precisely in this, doing everything we can to best serve the community’ declares Raffaele Gargiulo, police commissioner of Pisa.
