STUTTGART, Germany, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Eight former Nazi officials won't be prosecuted for their suspected roles in a massacre in Italy's Tuscany region during World War II, German magistrates said.
The magistrates in Stuttgart said a 10-year investigation didn't produce enough evidence to prosecute the eight living of 17 Nazi officers suspected of participating in the killing of hundreds of villagers in Sant'Anna di Stazzema in 1944, ANSA reported Monday.
The announcement led to disbelief and anger among survivors, victims' relatives and Italian politicians, who vowed to seek justice.
"We are saddened and disheartened by the news. We are not resigned, however. That massacre must find truth and justice," said Paolo Corsini, an Italian deputy to the European Commission. "We will present a request to the [German] government to acquire the documentation and to know how it intends to prevent those responsible from going unpunished."
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In 2005, the Italian military court condemned in absentia 10 of the former Nazi officers to life in prison, including the eight still alive, ANSA said. Germany however, has refused to grant Italy's request for the men's arrest.
Italian military magistrates found German soldiers killed between 457 and 560 people, mainly the elderly, women and children, in a premeditated, non-military operation meant to eliminate resistance supporters and civilians. The slaughter then was blamed on an SS infantry division.
"I want to assure the survivors and victims' relatives that the Stuttgart prosecutor's office did everything possible" to clarify the responsibility of German military officers in the massacre, Stuttgart Attorney General Claudia Krauth said Monday. "Even here we feel the weight of our responsibility. We have investigated with great interest and commitment."
