An Italian research group has begun investigating the case of Giovanni Palatucci, a World War II Italian policeman whose record of rescuing Jews recently has come under question.
Research showing that Giovanni Palatucci, the “Italian Schindler,” was a Nazi collaborator rather than a hero has spurred several Jewish groups to remove honors in his name.
The Vatican newspaper said on Saturday a decision by scholars to brand a wartime Italian previously praised for saving Jews as a Nazi collaborator was part of an attempt to smear the Catholic Church during the papacy of Pope Pius XII.