ROME, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- An Italian court Friday sentenced a German army officer to life in prison for taking part in killing of thousands of Italian soldiers during World War II.
Alfred Stork, 90, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for ordering the execution of at least 117 Italian officers on the Greek island of Cephalonia after they had surrendered, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.
The massacre was one of several that took place after a Sept. 8, 1943, armistice between Italy and the Allies in which Italy agreed to switch sides in the war.
On Cephalonia, Italian General Antonio Gandin gave his troops three options: Continue to fight alongside the Germans, surrender their weapons, or keep their weapons and fight against the Germans.
Over the next eight days, 1,300 Italian soldiers died in battle, while 5,155 were killed after being taken prisoner and about 3,000 died when a ship taking them to a Nazi concentration camp sank.
Among the evidence presented at Stork's trial was a 2005 confession in which Stork admitted to German prosecutors that he was a member of an execution platoon on the island. The confession was later retracted.
