Nazi criminal Priebke to be buried in secret

SS man’s casket went missing last week amid turmoil over funeral in Rome

By ToI Staff and AP 20 October 2013, 3:52 am

Edit

A van allegedly carrying the coffin of Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke is protected by policemen in riot gear as it leaves the Society of St. Pius X headquarters, a schismatic Catholic group, where his funeral was scheduled to take place in Albano Laziale, on the outskirts of Rome on Tuesday, October 15, 2013. (photo credit: AP/Riccardo De Luca)

Erich Priebke will be buried in a secret location in Italy or Germany, the deceased Nazi war criminal’s lawyer said Saturday. Last week, Priebke’s body was seized by Italian authorities after an angry mob disrupted his funeral.

“The agreement satisfies the family and ethical and spiritual requirements,” the lawyer, Paolo Giachini, said of the new plan, noting that after the funeral there would be “a small ceremony for relatives.”

Giachini and the former SS captain’s family lost track of Priebke’s casket Tuesday night, when they tried to celebrate a funeral Mass for him in a church compound in Albano Laziale, south of Rome.

At a certain point, he told Sky TG24, a group of about 30 people entered the compound and took the casket out, following protests pitting Priebke’s right-wing supporters against his detractors.

Priebke died Friday at the age of 100 in Rome, where he was serving a life term for the 1944 massacre of 335 civilians at the Ardeatine Caves outside Rome. It was one of the worst atrocities in German-occupied Italy during World War II.

A 1996 file photo, showing former Nazi officer, Erich Priebke, attending an hearing of his trial at the tribunal in Rome. Erich Priebke, an ex SS captain sentenced to life for the 1944's Ardeatine caves massacre in Italy, died at 100. (Photo credit: AP /Giulio Broglio, File) — A 1996 file photo, showing former Nazi officer, Erich Priebke, attending a hearing of his trial at the tribunal in Rome. Priebke, an ex-SS captain sentenced to life for the 1944 Ardeatine Caves massacre in Italy, died at 100. (photo credit: AP/Giulio Broglio/File)

His death sparked waves of outrage in Italy’s Jewish community because, in a final statement issued by his lawyer upon his death, Priebke denied that Jews were gassed in Nazi death camps.

In a separate video statement released by Giachini on Thursday, Priebke also defended his actions at the Ardeatine Caves, saying the orders to shoot the civilians came from Adolf Hitler himself and that members of his SS unit were told they would be shot if they didn’t obey.

Giachini said he had been in touch with the German Embassy for possible burial in Priebke’s native land, once the body is located.