Erich Priebke

Erich Priebke, born July 29, 1913 at Hennigsdorf, Brandenburg, Germany is a Nazi war criminal and mass murderer. A former Hauptsturmführer in the S.S., he participated in the massacres at the Ardeatine caves in Rome in Italy on March 24, 1944. 335 Italian civilians were killed there as revenge after a partisan group had killed 33 German soldiers and an imprecised number of civilians. Priebke was one of those who stood responsible for this mass execution. After the Nazis were defeated, he got help from ODESSA to flee to Argentina where he lived for over 50 years.

History

The Ardeatine massacre

In March 1944, 33 German soldiers and an imprecised number of civilians were killed when a group of Italian Communist partisans set off a bomb close to a column of German soldiers who were marching on Via Rasella. Hitler soon issued the order that within 24 hours, ten Italians were to be shot for each dead German. Nazi authorities in Rome quickly compiled a list of 330 civilians which were to be killed, many of them prisoners for petty offenses or anti-fascism, many Jews and some other people also got arrested.

Related Topics:
Via Rasella - Nazi - Rome - Prison - Jew

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The victims were soon transported to the Ardeatine caves in groups of five people. They were led into the cave with their hands tied behind their back and then shot in the neck. Many were forced to kneel down over the bodies of those who had been killed before them because the cave had become filled with dead bodies. During the killings, it was found that by a mistake five more people than were supposed to had been taken, but they were killed anyway since they were already there.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since there were 75 Jews among the victims, this massacre is the largest single episode of the Holocaust in Italy. This is the reason that many Jewish organizations have worked hard to bring those responsible to trial.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the spotlight

In 1994, reporter Sam Donaldson filmed a report about Priebke for the ABC television newsmagazine Primetime Live. Priebke spoke openly about his role in the massacre. He also excused his actions by saying that he only followed orders from the Gestapo chief of Rome, Obersturmbannführer (equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel) Herbert Kappler. When testifying after the war, Kappler explained that Priebke had been ordered to make sure that all the victims were brought to the caves and executed and to check the list of people which were to be killed. In 1948 Kappler was sentenced to life in prison by a military court. His wife got him smuggled out from a military hospital in 1977, but he died of cancer six months later.

Related Topics:
Sam Donaldson - ABC - Primetime Live - Gestapo - Herbert Kappler - 1948 - 1977

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A free man

In post-WWII trials, Priebke was also set to be tried for his role in the massacre, but he managed to escape from a British prison camp in northeastern Italy in 1946. Two years later he came to Argentina where he lived as a free man for 50 years.

Related Topics:
1946 - Argentina

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Priebke told Donaldson that the victims - from 14 year old boys to 75 year old men - were nothing but terrorists. He admitted that it was he who compiled the lists over those who were going to be executed. In addition to the massacre, Priebke is thought to have participated in the deportation of 6,000-7,000 Jews from Italy to Auschwitz concentration camp, and to have tortured political prisoners.

Related Topics:
Auschwitz - Concentration camp - Torture

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~