Nazi War Criminal’s Son Blames Jews for Italy Burial Feud
Image by getty images
The son of convicted Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke said his father “can be buried in Israel so that they will be happy,” referring to Jews.
Jorge Priebke, reacting to rejections by Rome, Argentina and his father’s hometown in German to provide a venue for the funeral, told the Italian news agency Ansa that his father “a victim.”
“The case against my father is a forgery made by the Jews,” he said in a call to the newspaper from Buenos Aires. “Where should he be buried? To me Israel also would be good, so that they’re happy.”
Asked who “these people” were, he answered, “the same as we have been talking about,” meaning Jews.
Erich Priebke died last week at 100 in Rome, where he had served 15 years of a life sentence for his involvement in one of Italy’s worst World War II Nazi atrocities — the March 1944 massacre of 335 men and boys, including about 75 Jews, in the Ardeatine Caves south of Rome.
“It’s unfair,” Priebke added, referring to the controversy over the funeral. “Why don’t these people pay attention to what’s happening in the Middle East, in Syria, in Iran or even to the poor people of Lampedusa who die in the Mediterranean? But no, they always pick on someone [for things that happened] during wartime more than 60 years ago”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
