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Ex-Nazi Priebke, cohort get life for '44 massacre in Italy
March 7, 1998
Web posted at: 7:36 p.m. EST (0036 GMT)In this story:
- Priebke to remain under house arrest pending appeal
- Following Hitler's orders
- Related Stories and Sites
ROME (CNN) -- Former Nazi SS officers Erich Priebke and Karl Hass were sentenced to life in prison Saturday for their roles in the massacre of 335 Italian civilians during World War II.
A five-member military appeals court upheld the convictions of the men, both 85, and sentenced them to life. Attorneys for both men said they planned to appeal to Italy's Supreme Court.
Priebke and Hass admitted they participated in the massacre at the Ardeatine Caves outside of Rome in 1944. The 335 men and boys, including 75 Jews, were executed one by one, in retaliation for the killing of 33 German soldiers by Italian partisans.
"The Ardeatine Caves dead can now rest in peace," said Rosina Stame, whose father, a resistance fighter, was one of the victims.
Priebke sentenced
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"The important thing was to hear, in the name of the Italian people, that these crimes have no statute of limitations, even after 500 years, and are thus never forgotten," said Sando Di Castro, a leader of Rome's Jewish community.
Priebke to remain under house arrest pending appeal
Italians were outraged in 1996 when a lower court set Priebke free. That decision was later tossed out, and, in July 1997 another military court sentenced Priebke to 15 years for the massacre -- then reduced his sentence to just five years due to mitigating circumstances.
With credit given for the time he had already served, Priebke could have been released in two months. Pending the appeal, he will remain under house arrest, rather than in prison.
Hass received a 10-year sentence last year but was then immediately freed under a long-standing amnesty. His lawyer described him as "stunned" by Saturday's decision. He will remain free pending appeal.
Ironically, it was their appeals of the earlier sentences to the higher court that led to Saturday's decision to lengthen their prison terms to life.
Neither Priebke nor Hass was in the courtroom to hear the new sentences. But before the panel retired to deliberate, Priebke made a statement to the court.
"I have been chosen to keep the memory of all the evils of that time alive," he said. "It doesn't really matter who Erich Priebke is and what he has done. It only matters what he represents."
Following Hitler's orders
Priebke has maintained that he executed the prisoners on orders from Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and would have been killed if he had refused.
"Executing the order was horrendous, a personal tragedy ... if I could have avoided that horror, I would have," he said.
But prosecutor Guiseppe Rosin told the court Priebke and Hass deserved a life sentence because the killings were carried out with premeditation and cruelty.
The victims were rounded up by Nazi officers, led by Priebke. He then read off the names of each one and they were shot in the back of the head. Both Priebke and Hass also admitted that they each shot two of the victims.
After the war, Priebke fled to Argentina, where he lived for decades in an Andean resort town. He was extradited to face charges in Italy in 1994.
The Priebke trial has been an emotional issue in Italy, which is still grappling with its role in World War II as an ally of Nazi Germany.
Rome Bureau Chief Gayle Young and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Heirs pursue 'lost museum' stolen by Nazis - December 25, 1997
- Solidarity lacking as conference on Nazi gold ends - December 4, 1997
- World War II allies attacked at Nazi gold conference - December 3, 1997
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