Former SS officer Erich Priebke, one of the world’s last surviving Nazi war criminals, has died at the age of 100, the BBC reported Friday.

 

In 1998, Priebke was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in overseeing the March 1944 massacre of 335 Italian civilians at the Ardeatine Caves outside Rome.

 

The slaughter was a reprisal for a bombing by Italian resistance forces that killed 33 German soldiers.German Chancellor Adolf Hitler is believed to have ordered the killing of 10 times that number of locals. People were rounded up, taken to the caves, and shot to death.

 

The killings continued for hours, and Priebke was one of the SS officers overseeing the slaughter.

 

After the war, he escaped to Argentina where he worked as a schoolteacher. But Priebke was eventually tracked down and extradited to Italy for trial.

 

He was convicted, and in 1998 began serving what was supposed to be life in prison. But because of his age and poor health, he was allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest in Rome — just miles away from the Ardeatine Caves.

 

The BBC reported July 29 that Priebke lived in an apartment with a roof terrace on a quiet Rome street, that he was allowed to go shopping, take strolls in the park, and go out to eat with friends.

 

The news infuriated many Rome residents, who said the sentence was far too lenient given the seriousness of Priebke’s crimes and his refusal to express remorse.

 

Former SS officer Erich Priebke, one of the world’s last surviving Nazi war criminals, has died at the age of 100, the BBC reported Friday.

 

In 1998, Priebke was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in overseeing the March 1944 massacre of 335 Italian civilians at the Ardeatine Caves outside Rome.

 

The slaughter was a reprisal for a bombing by Italian resistance forces that killed 33 German soldiers.German Chancellor Adolf Hitler is believed to have ordered the killing of 10 times that number of locals. People were rounded up, taken to the caves, and shot to death.

 

The killings continued for hours, and Priebke was one of the SS officers overseeing the slaughter.

 

After the war, he escaped to Argentina where he worked as a schoolteacher. But Priebke was eventually tracked down and extradited to Italy for trial.

 

He was convicted, and in 1998 began serving what was supposed to be life in prison. But because of his age and poor health, he was allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest in Rome – just miles away from the Ardeatine Caves.

 

The BBC reported July 29 that Priebke lived in an apartment with a roof terrace on a quiet Rome street, that he was allowed to go shopping, take strolls in the park, and go out to eat with friends.

 

The news infuriated many Rome residents, who said the sentence was far too lenient given the seriousness of Priebke’s crimes and his refusal to express remorse.

 

 

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