Seeing the continuation of the merciless abandonment of a public monument, such as the one dedicated to the hero Questore, Giovanni Palatucci in Torre del Greco, is for me an unspeakable sadness.
But there is worse: currently, as I learned personally on Friday 6 October 2023, around 17,40 pm, the artistic bas-relief in solid bronze by the famous sculptor Vincenzo Borriello is missing from the stele, in which the noble face of the young Palatucci stood out.
In this regard, I do not know if the precious work was stolen or something else. In any case, I represent that the monument is literally obscured by shrubs, weeds and dirt, as well as besieged by the continuous parking of cars, despite the prohibitions.
An unbearable condition, a grave offense to the memory of an extraordinary policeman, but above all of a man who was a shining example of altruism and an authentic servant of the State. Palatucci proved to be a firm opponent of human folly, of that atrocious madness, a sort of hallucinatory apotheosis of Evil, which in the Second World War led to the extermination of millions of Jewish men, women, elderly people and children.
Faced with such madness, Palatucci acted with great courage, saving thousands of Jews from death.
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A very high example of the conscious empathy between Giovanni Palatucci, the last Italian Police Chief of Fiume and the Jews can be found in a moving letter addressed to his dear parents in 1941. Gold Medal for Civil Merit: “A police officer, in charge of the Fiume Police Headquarters, he did his utmost to help thousands of persecuted people, managing to prevent their arrest and deportation.
Faithful to the commitment he had undertaken and despite being aware of the very serious personal risks, he continued, despite the German occupation and the relentless incursions of the Slavic partisans, his work as a leader, patriot and Christian, until his arrest by the Gestapo and his deportation to an extermination camp, where he sacrificed his young life”.
A strong paradigm that of Palatucci, to be passed on to future generations and not only. Instead, this noble testimony has once again been offended: in the park dedicated to him, since in addition to the obvious abandonment and neglect, there is no longer the effigy of Palatucci. I hope that the competent authorities in various capacities can intervene promptly and restore lustre and decorum to the memory of the Questore.
Anthony Borriello
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