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.
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.
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