On September 12, Pope Pius XII sent Giuseppe Carozzi, a young Italian priest with a secret request.
The Pope wanted Marinelli to liberate 300 Yugoslavian Jews from the internment camp and give them safe passage into Switzerland.
Marinelli went against strict Nazi orders forbidding Jews, prisoners of war, or anyone who had not joined Benito Mussolini's northern Italian Republic of Salo from crossing the border, and that same night let them escape from the camp.
After four days of travelling through unbeaten paths, the prisoners, being primarily led by Carozzi and another priest, Cirillo Vitalini, along with the help of Marinelli safely managed to cross into Switzerland.
Following the escape of the Jewish prisoners, the Nazis, which had not yet mobilized in that region, began sending more and more troops in an effort to stop illegal border crossings.