News Briefs
April 3, 1996
Web posted at: 10 p.m. EST (0300 GMT)
Ex-SS officer blames Italian civilians for Nazi massacre
ROME, Italy (CNN) -- A former SS captain accused of organizing a Nazi massacre of Italians during World War II said Wednesday that the atrocity was ordered personally by Hitler and that it was a "legitimate reprisal" for an anti-German attack by Italian civilians. "I am innocent," Erich Priebke was quoted as saying by a lawyer who attended the closed-door military committal hearing.
Attorneys said Priebke, 82, blamed Italian civilians for provoking the SS massacre of 335 men and boys outside Rome in March 1944. The Nazis were retaliating for the killing of 33 German soldiers by Italian partisans during the Nazi occupation of the Italian capital, Priebke said.
He spoke for the first time in court since he was extradited last November to Italy from Argentina, where he had lived openly since 1948. A Italian military court judge is examining the evidence before deciding whether to commit Priebke to trial for war crimes. Lawyers said he was expected to rule on Thursday.
- The Simon Wiesenthal Center
- Italy and Germany seek extradition of Nazis - Aug. 24, 1995
- Former Nazi officer faces war crimes trial - Nov. 21, 1995
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