Italy has for the first time compensated victims of Nazi war crimes and paid 800.000 euros to the heirs of a man killed in a massacre of civilians in Tuscany in 1944, Reuters reported.
The historic decision, which comes after decades of legal battles, marks a significant turnaround in the Italian government's approach and potentially sets a precedent for families of other victims of Nazi and fascist crimes, according to Reuters.
Metelo Rićarini was killed along with 243 other people in Civitela in Val di Chiani, about 220 kilometers north of Rome, on June 29, 1944, in retaliation by German troops after two of their soldiers died in a conflict with Italian partisans, Reuters writes. .
"I express my satisfaction, as well as the satisfaction of my mother Metela and my relatives, who received money from the Ministry of Economy last Sunday," said the family's lawyer Roberto Alboni, who is also the victim's nephew, adding that it took two decades to receive compensation .
In 1962, Germany paid Italy 40 million Deutsche Marks, which would be worth a little over a billion euros today, to cover the damage the Nazis inflicted on the Italian state and citizens during World War II.
That agreement shifted responsibility to Italy to pay future compensation claims from victims, but nothing was done for decades.
Then-Prime Minister Mario Draghi set up a 61 million euro fund in 2022 to cover mounting claims for compensation from victims and their descendants, hoping to close a dark chapter in Italian history. Nazi troops committing atrocities in Italy regularly had the support of local fascists.
"This is an important first result in the fight to raise awareness of reparations for the heirs of the victims of Nazi-fascist crimes," said Dario Parini, a senator from the center-left opposition Democratic Party, which follows the issue.
A German government-funded study published in 2016 estimated that 22.000 Italians were victims of Nazi war crimes, including up to 8.000 Jews deported to death camps. Thousands of other Italians were forced to work as slave labor in Germany.
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