Eighty years on, Italian victims of Nazi crimes finally to get compensation

Mauro Petrarca poses for a photo next to a memorial in honor of six men, including his great grandfather, who were hanged by the German army in 1943, in Fornelli, Italy, August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Crispian Balmer. The writing on the monument reads 'Here in defence of freedom victims of Teutonic fury heroically met their death and glory came'/file photo

FORNELLI, Italy (Reuters) - In October 1943, after the Nazis began a brutal occupation of their former ally, German troops hanged six Italian civilians on a hillside in southern Italy as collective punishment for the killing of a soldier, who had been foraging for food.

Eighty years later, some of the relatives of the men put to death in Fornelli are finally set to receive a share of 12 million euros ($13 million) awarded by an Italian court as compensation for their families' trauma.