Italy Pays First Compensation for Nazi War Crimes Victims

In a historic move, Italy has for the first time provided compensation to the victims of Nazi war crimes, awarding 800,000 euros (approximately $840,000) to the heirs of a man killed during a 1944 civilian massacre in Tuscany. This landmark decision, announced on Wednesday by a lawyer for the heirs and the Italian Treasury, represents a significant shift in the Italian government’s stance on reparations for Nazi and fascist-era atrocities.

Metello Ricciarini, the victim, was among 244 individuals killed in Civitella in Val di Chiana, located about 220 kilometers north of Rome, on June 29, 1944. The massacre occurred as a reprisal by German forces after two of their soldiers were killed in a skirmish with Italian partisans.

"I express my satisfaction, on behalf of my mother Metella and my relatives, who received the payment from the Ministry of Economy last week," said Roberto Alboni, the family’s lawyer and Ricciarini’s nephew. He emphasized that securing the compensation took two decades of legal battles.

This payment marks a departure from previous decades, where no action was taken despite long-standing calls for reparations. In 1962, Germany had paid Italy 40 million Deutschmarks (equivalent to over 1 billion euros today) for the damage caused by Nazi forces during World War II. However, that settlement was seen as covering only the state's losses, leaving individual victims without compensation. Italy, under the terms of the 1962 agreement, remained responsible for any future claims, but no measures were put in place until recently.

In 2022, then-Prime Minister Mario Draghi established a fund worth 61 million euros to address the growing number of compensation requests from victims and their descendants, aiming to resolve a painful chapter in Italy's history. This fund is part of Italy's effort to acknowledge the atrocities committed by Nazi forces, often with the aid of local fascists, during their occupation of the country.

"This is an important first step in the fight to raise awareness about reparations for the heirs of victims of Nazi-fascist crimes," said Dario Parrini, a senator from the opposition centre-left Democratic Party who has long advocated for reparations.

A study commissioned by the German government and published in 2016 estimated that around 22,000 Italians were victims of Nazi war crimes, including 8,000 Jews deported to death camps. Thousands more Italians were forced into labor in Germany under brutal conditions. The compensation to Ricciarini’s heirs represents a critical acknowledgment of the atrocities faced by these victims and could set a precedent for other families seeking justice.