Greece Appeals to International Court for German Compensations

From 12 to 16 September, Germany and Italy will present arguments in a case examined by the International Court in the Hague after Berlin’s appeal the decisions of Italian courts, which vindicated the victims of Nazi crimes.

Both countries will now present their positions verbally at these meetings, as they were presented in writing before.

On October 21, 2008 the Supreme Court of Italy ratified the decision, which required the German state to compensate the families of 203 people who were killed by the German army in June 1944 in Arezzo, Tuscany.

Also, on November 26 of the same year the Florence Court of Appeal ordered the German government to compensate the families of victims of the massacre of Distomo in June 1944.

Greece, which has received approval by the International Court to intervene in the case as a third party will present its arguments on September 14. Germany had recourse to the Hague in December 2008 seeking to recognise that the Italian courts violate the privilege of immunity of the German State, by accepting to review cases involving Nazi crimes.