World IN BRIEF : ITALY : Former Nazi to Be Tried in Massacre
A military court ordered former SS captain Erich Priebke to stand trial for the Nazi massacre of 335 Italian men and boys during World War II. Examining Judge Giuseppe Massi ruled that the 82-year-old Priebke should stand trial starting May 8 for “multiple homicide aggravated by cruelty.” In Italy’s worst wartime atrocity, the March 1944 massacre at the Ardeatine Caves near Rome, the SS shot the victims in the head in groups of five as they knelt on piles of corpses. Priebke has admitted he drew up the list of victims and personally shot two people but argued he should not be held responsible because he was following orders.
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