But the police chief in Fiume in northern Italy was doing something else. At the height of the Nazis’ power in World War II, he was forging papers to help at least 5,000 Jewish people flee the country or take refuge in southern Italy.

Giovanni Palatucci – ”Johnny,” as his Philadelphia nephew calls him – was an Italian Oskar Schindler who paid the ultimate price for using his job to save others.

Now – almost 60 years after Palatucci died in a concentration camp – Northeast Philadelphia car dealer Gene De Simone wants Americans to know about his uncle. He says he ”absolutely” believes that Palatucci is worthy of becoming a saint – a possible eventual outcome of a study started at the Vatican in October 2002.

Police and Roman Catholic clergy in Italy have led the push toward sainthood, which requires proof of miracles and can take decades to achieve.

But in America, Palatucci is virtually unknown, says the Italian-born De Simone, who visits his native country every year. Streets have been named for Palatucci in Italian cities, as has a park in Rome.

”This all got started in Italy years ago,” said De Simone, but in this country, ”it’s like a big secret.”

De Simone, 57, first learned about Palatucci four years ago, he said, when an uncle, Salvatore De Simone of Upper Darby, handed him a tape of a movie made in Italy about the World War II-era cop’s heroism.

”I said, ‘Why are we hiding this?’ ”

De Simone’s not hiding it any more. He and a friend, John Costa of Warminster, have put up a Web site with information in English about Palatucci.

Palatucci’s story is a gripping one, whether recounted by De Simone or by the Raoul Wallenburg Foundation, which has publicized his cause.

”He had his entire police department making fake passports,” said De Simone. Then Palatucci destroyed the records.

”He knew what he was doing,” the nephew said, and he knew how dangerous it was. He held top police jobs until months before his death in Dachau at age 36.

For years, he transferred Jewish ”foreigners” to a camp in southern Italy, where an uncle who was a bishop helped protect them. Palatucci also sent Jews safely on their way out of Italy as the Nazi noose tightened late in the war.

Among those he got out of the country to safety was Giovanni Palatucci’s own Jewish fiancee, according to De Simone and the Wallenburg Foundation.

Someone apparently betrayed Palatucci to the Nazis, who suddenly came looking for records of the ”foreigners” he was supposed to have deported. Finding nothing at police headquarters, they went to the home of his tailor uncle in Montella, in southern Italy, where both Palatucci and De Simone were born.

There, said De Simone, they found a letter from Palatucci’s fiancee praising his role in helping people to escape.

The Gestapo arrested him in September 1944, and soon sent him to Dachau.

The Nazis claimed that his death on Feb. 10, 1945, was from natural causes. Though some advocates have said he was shot to death, De Simone thinks it’s quite possible that his uncle died of the diseases that were decimating the camp in the last two months before its liberation.

Either way, Palatucci gave his life for the people he saved, say advocates of his sainthood.

Giovanni Palatucci’s cause of beatification is already under way. Earlier this month, Baruch Tenembaum, founder of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, revealed details of Palatucci’s life, at a conference on ”Saviors of the Holocaust.”

Tenembaum gave new information on the person of the former police officer of the city of Rijeka (today in Croatia), but in those years known as Fiume and under Italian jurisdiction.

Between 1937 and 1944, Palatucci obtained false documents and safe-conducts for individuals persecuted by Nazism.

Giovanni Palatucci, born in 1909 in Montella, carried out this endeavor with the help of his uncle, Bishop Giuseppe Maria Palatucci of Campagna.

In 1938 Italian dictator Benito Mussolini promulgated anti-Jewish laws, which included the confinement of foreign Jews sheltered in camps for internees. One of the largest of these camps was located in Campagna.

”They want to make us believe that the heart is only a muscle, to hinder us from doing what our hearts and religion tell us,” Palatucci said, referring to these laws, according to information discovered in Tenembaum’s research.

”Palatucci’s work consisted in editing the necessary residence papers required by the law for refugees,” Tenembaum said.

”He began silently to falsify documents and visas. When Palatucci ‘deported’ Jews ‘officially,’ he handled it in such a way that they were sent to Campagna, instructing his refugees to contact his uncle, who would give them the most help possible,” Tenembaum revealed.

After Mussolini’s imprisonment in 1943, the German forces occupied the north of Italy, making the situation in Fiume increasingly dangerous for Palatucci and for the 3,500 Jews there.

”In February 1943, Palatucci became Fiume’s chief of police, and was thus able to continue his secret work,” Tenembaum recalled. ”Instead of giving the Germans information on ‘foreigners’ to be deported, he destroyed the records. When he learned about the Nazis’ plans, he alerted people in time, often providing them with false documents and money to escape.”

”In June 1943, high German officials searched Palatucci’s apartment,” the speaker said. ”Looking for information on resident Jews, the only lists they found corresponded to people who had left Italy long ago. From then on, Palatucci’s relationship with his superiors became very dangerous.”

”A close friend, the Swiss ambassador in Trieste, offered Palatucci safe passage to Switzerland. He accepted his friend’s generous offer but, instead of using it himself, he sent his fiancée, a young Jewish woman. She spent the war there and today lives in Israel,” Tenembaum said.

”On September 13, 1944, Giovanni Palatucci was arrested by the Gestapo, accused of conspiracy, and sent to prison in Trieste, where he was condemned to death. However, his sentenced was commuted and on October 22 he was taken to the Dachau extermination camp,” Tenembaum added. ”His prison number was 117826.

”He died on February 10, 1945, a few weeks before the camp was liberated by the Allies on April 29, 1945. Some say he died of undernourishment. Other witnesses said he was shot. He was only 36.”

In October 2002, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope’s vicar for Rome, opened Palatucci’s cause of beatification.

”In 1953, the city of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, honored Palatucci, by naming a street after him. Thirty-six trees were planted on that occasion — one for every year of Giovanni’s life,” Tenembaum recalled.

The Raoul Wallenberg International Foundation is named after the Swedish diplomat who disappeared in January 1945, after having saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews condemned to certain death by the Nazis.

The foundation honors the actions of ”saviors” who risked their lives — and sometimes died — to save those who were persecuted during World War II. Among those honored are Wallenberg, apostolic nuncio Angelo Roncalli (the future Pope John XXIII), Aristides de Sousa Mendes and Jan Karski.

Giovanni Palatucci was a 28 years Old Italian policeman who in 1937 was working in the city of Fiume (nowadays part of Croatia) in charge of the Foreigners department.

In October 2002, the Pope’s vicar in Rome, Father Gianfranco Zuncheddu, opened the cause for beatification where details about this policeman who gave his life to save about five thousand Jews during the Second World War, are revealed.

When Benito Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister in 1922, the fascist party was not practicing anti-Semite policies. That changed in 1938, when the government of the ”Duce” accepted the Nazi pressure and decreed a number of anti-Jewish laws that included the confinement of foreign Jews sheltered in intern camps. One of the largest camps was located in Campania, where Giovanni’s uncle was Bishop.

In a recent conference about ”the saviors of the Holocaust”, Baruch Tenembaum, founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, an organization that investigates the actions of those who risked their lives to save persecuted people during the Second World War, explained that Palatucci’s work consisted in publishing the papers of residence required by the refuge law. Silently, he started to falsify documents and visas, explained Tenembaum, that allowed the official deportation of Jews officially. ”But he managed for them to be sent to Campania, with instructions to contact his uncle, who would offer them the greatest assistance possible.”

After Mussolini’s detention in 1943, the German forces occupied northern Italy, turning the situation of Fiume of growing danger for the policeman and deadly for 3,500 Jews who were there.

That year Palatucci was promoted chief of police and thus he could continue his secret work. According to the information that arose from the investigation made by Tenembaum, ”instead of giving information to the Germans about Jews to be deported, he destroyed the files. When he learnt the plans of the Nazis, he warned people in time, often providing them with false documents and money to run away.”

”Giovanni Palatucci went beyond the command: he loved his neighbor more than himself”, explained survivor Roszi Neumann to the commission that started the cause of beatification.

Palatucci’s situation got worse when German officials searched his apartment looking for information so, the Swiss Ambassador to Trieste, a close friend of the policeman, offered a safe pass to Switzerland but, instead of using it, he sent his fiancée, a young Jew that nowadays lives in Israel.

”On September 13, 1944 he was arrested by the Gestapo accused of conspiracy and sent to prison in Trieste where he was condemned to death, explained Tenembaum. Even though the sentence was commuted, a month later he was moved to the extermination camp of Dachau where he died on February 10, 1945, a few weeks before the camp was liberated by the allies.”

He was 36 years old. Some people say that he died of malnutrition; other witnesses declared that he was shot.

In 1953, the city of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, paid honor to Palatucci by naming a street with his name. Two years later, the Italian Union of Jewish Communities awarded him posthumously with a gold medal. His president, Amos Luzzatto emphasized: ”The chief of Police could not have ignored the risk he was taking. He acted knowing that he was going towards his own sacrifice; for him he was a merit to give his life for just one man”.

He grew up in a family of Theologians. Two uncles, heads of Franciscan monasteries in Puglia and Naples, were important role models in his youth. But it was another uncle, Giuseppe Maria Palatucci, the Bishop of Campania, who would help Giovanni free Jews from northern Italy, occupied by the Nazis, sending them to the safe zones of the south.

Once Giovanni finished his basic studies and the military service, he went to the Turin University where he graduated in laws in 1932. In 1935 he became an attorney and shortly after he went to Rome where he took a course that would qualify him as inspector at the ministry of public administration. In 1937 he was sent to Fiume, a city in northern Italy, that nowadays is part of Croatia, where he was put in charge of the department of foreigners.

When Benito Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister in 1922, the Italian fascist party was not practicing anti-Semite policies. This changed in 1938, when the government of the “Duce” gave in to the Nazi pressure and decreed a series of anti-Semite laws that included the confinement of foreign Jewish refugees in reclusion camps.

“They want to make us believe that the heart is just a muscle, to prevent us from doing what our hearts and religion tell us to do”, said Palatucci referring to these laws.

One of the largest camps was located in Campania, where Giovanni’s uncle was the Bishop.

Palatucci´s work consisted in editing the necessary residence papers requested by law for the refugees. He silently started to falsify documents and visas. When Palatucci ”officially deported” Jews, he arranged that they were sent to Campania, by telling ”his” refugees to contact his uncle, who would offer them the greatest assistance possible.

By this time Giovanni sent a setter to his parents in which he said ”I have the possibility to do something good and people is really grateful for this. As a reward for my actions, I receive their sincere gratitude.”

After Mussolini’s imprisonment in 1943, the German forces occupied northern Italy, turning the situation in Fiume of growing danger for Palatucci and deadly for 3,500 Jews who were there.

In February 1943, Palatucci became the Fiume chief of police and thus he was able to continue his secret work. Instead of giving the Germans information about ”foreigners” to be deported, he destroyed the files. When he learnt about the Nazi plans, he warned people in time, most of the times providing them with false documents and money to run away.

In June 1943, High German officers inspected Giovanni’s department, looking for information about Jewish residents but the only list they could find belonged to people who had left Italy long ago. From that moment onwards, the relation between Palatucci and his superiors became very dangerous.

A close friend, the Swiss ambassador to Trieste, offered Palatucci a safe ticket to Switzerland. He accepted his friend’s generous offer but he sent his fiancée, a young Jewish lady, instead. There, she spent the war and nowadays she lives in Israel.

On September 13, 1944 Giovanni Palatucci was arrested by the Gestapo, accused with conspiracy and sent to the Trieste Prison, where he was condemned to death. However, his sentence was commuted and on October 22 he was transferred to the extermination camp of Dachau. His prisoner number was 117.826.

He died on February 10, 1945, weeks before it was released by the allies on April 29, 1945. Some say that he died of malnutrition and others declared that he was shot. He was only 36 years old.

On October 2002, the Pope’s vicar in Rome, Father Gianfranco Zuncheddu, opened the cause of Palatucci´s beatification. The process took place in Rome because most of the documents related to Palatucci are in the Ministry of Interior and many of the witnesses are Italians.

“He was interested in marginalized people, political refugees, Jews, everyone”, Father Zuncheddu explained, also police chaplain.

Giovanni Palatucci “went beyond command: he loved his neighbor more than himself”, survivor Roszi Neumann said before the commission that started the cause of beatification.

The police department has carried out most of the historical research for the cause of beatification. According to Father Albero Alberti, police chaplain and national coordinator for the spiritual care of the Italian police personnel, ”An association was formed around Palatucci´s by his friends and former policemen.”

When the RAI TV show “Senza confini” was presented, with some scenes filmed at the Rome Superior Institute of Police Department, important directors of the TV station, as well as the Chief Rabbi of Rome Elio Toaff and Amos Luzzatto, president of the Group of Italian Jewish Communities were present.

”There are two kind of heroism, the one that arises from a unexpected need or impulse, and Palatucci´s: an everyday heroism, that repeats and confirms itself to the certainty of danger to which it risks. The chief of police could not have ignored the risk and: he was too involved in the security mechanism not to realize. He acted knowing that he was heading to his own sacrifice; for him, it was a merit to give his life for just one man”, Luzzatto said.

In 1953, the city of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, paid honor to Palatucci by giving his name to a street. During the occasion 36 trees were planted, one for each year of Giovanni’s life.

On April 17, 1955, the Group of Italian Jewish Communities posthumously awarded Palatucci with a gold medal.

His family worked through the years to keep his story alive.

Michele Bianco and Antonio De Simone Palatucci wrote the book “Giovanni Palatucci, Un olocausto nella Shoáh”.

In many Italian cities, among them Milan, Turin, Salerno, Trieste, Avellino and Rome, squares and public promenades carry the name of Giovanni Palatucci.

* Baruch Tenembaum is Founder of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation