- Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre
The Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre was a
World War II in the village ofSant'Anna di Stazzema ,Italy . OnAugust 12 1944 , retreatingSS -men of the IIBattallion of SS-Panzergrenadier -Regiment 35 of 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Reichsführer-SS", commanded by "SS-Hauptsturmführer" Anton Galler, rounded up 560 villagers and refugees — mostly women, children and older men — shot them and then burned their bodies. In the aftermath of the , the village was only partially rebuilt and stands today as amemorial .2004 trial
Until 2004, no one had ever been prosecuted for the massacre. In July 2004, a trial commenced before a
military court inLa Spezia against ten former SS officers and NCOs living inGermany . OnJune 22 ,2005 , the Italian military court found the ten formerWaffen-SS members guilty of participation in the massacre. They were sentenced "in absentia " tolife imprisonment .* Werner Bruss, 1920 (former "SS-Unterscharführer")
* Alfred Concina, born 1919 (former "SS-Unterscharführer')
* Ludwig Goering, born 1923, former "SS-Rottenführer"
* Karl Gropler, born 1923 (former "SS-Unterscharführer')
* Georg Rauch, born 1921 ( former "SS-Untersturmführer")
* Horst Richter, born 1921 (former "SS-Unterscharführer")
* Alfred Schoneberg, born 1921 (former "SS-Unterscharführer')
* Heinrich Schendel, born 1922 (former "SS-Unterscharführer')
*Gerhard Sommer , born 1921 (former "SS-Untersturmführer"
* Ludwig Heinrich Sonntag, born 1924 (former "SS-Unterscharführer')There have been several other trials since 2002 concerning German war crimes in Italy (e.g. on
October 10 ,2006 , Max Josef Milde was convicted for his role in the Civitella massacre).ee also
*
Italian Campaign (World War II)
*Marzabotto massacre
*"Miracle at St. Anna ", a novel by James McBride and a film bySpike Lee loosely based on the incidentFurther reading
*US NARA, Record Group 153,
Judge Advocate General , War Crimes Branch, Cases filed 1944-1949, Location: 270/1/25/3-4, Entry 143, Box 527, Case 16-62 (Santa Anna).
*US NARA, RG 238, Office of theChief of Counsel for War Crimes , Location: 190/10/34/25, Entry 2, Box 10, Case 16-62 (Santa Anna).
*Claudia Buratti/Giovanni Cipollini, Vite bruciate. La strage di Sant’Anna di Stazzema 1944-2005, Rome, 2006.
*Carlo Gentile, Politische Soldaten. Die 16. SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division „Reichsführer-SS“ in Italien 1944, in: „Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken“, 81, 2001, pp. 529-561.
*Carlo Gentile, Sant’Anna di Stazzema, in: Gerd R. Ueberschär (ed.), Orte des Grauens. Verbrechen im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Darmstadt, 2003, pp. 231-236.
*Carlo Gentile, Le SS di Sant’Anna di Stazzema: azioni, motivazioni e profilo di una unità nazista, in: Marco Palla (ed.), Tra storia e memoria. 12 agosto 1944: la strage di Sant’Anna di Stazzema, Rome, 2003, pp. 86-117.External links
* [http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1432_A_1296389_1_A,00.html?mpb=en "A Day of Shame" for Germany] "
Deutsche Welle ", 12.08.2004
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