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Echoes of the fatal blow will reverberate next month when the victim’s granddaughter, Walda Pistoni, files a lawsuit for reimbursement with a ruling in Rome. It is the latest in a series of programs worth 61 million euros ($66 million). ) fund created through the Italian Government. ” The challenge is enormous,” Giulio Arria, a lawyer representing several plaintiffs, said, adding to Pistoni. It is estimated that as many as 1,500 claims have been filed.
Among the petitioners are descendants of victims of arbitrary killings, such as Mr. Pistoni; of executed supporters; Jews and Roma who died in Nazi concentration camps; and Italian soldiers, sailors, and airmen sent to Germany to work as forced laborers. In cases already decided, the descendants of those forced to work were reimbursed ranging from €30,000 to €40,000. Relatives of those affected earned much higher sums. The sisters who were orphaned after the death of their father in a bloodbath in Tuscany won €270,000 each. This has raised doubts about the suitability of the fund, which was created to avoid a crisis in relations between EU partners.
Germany has long maintained that its duty for the movements of its armed forces in Italy was settled in 1962, when it exceeded 40 million German marks (worth today about 1. 5 billion euros). But the money was not primarily intended to compensate the Americans and, to the extent that Italian judges then ordered the German government to pay refunds to many survivors and descendants of the victims, but Germany refused. The previous Polish government made much larger claims against Germany: it demanded $1. 3 billion. euros. But here too, Germany claims that all debts have been paid according to agreements signed decades ago.
In 2012, the International Court of Justice ruled in favor of Germany on the grounds that governments were not bound by the decisions of other countries’ courts. But two years later, Italy’s Constitutional Court ruled that they were liable if the predicate crimes violated foreign law. Italian judges continued to factor verdicts, and in 2022 a Rome court ordered the seizure of homes owned by the German government, adding the Goethe Institute, a cultural agency. The previous Italian government, led by Mario Draghi, stepped in and created the new fund. It was initially created for major claims and set a 30-day deadline for filing new claims. But this deadline was gradually extended to the end of 2023, allowing many more to be filed.
Meanwhile, Italian government lawyers replaced German government officials, fighting the applicants at every turn. Their objections have provoked complaints from some politicians. ” They’ve put forward goosebump-inducing arguments,” said Dario Parrini, a senator from the opposition Democratic Party. Last May, he introduced a bill to subdue government lawyers. It appealed to all parties, but has since dragged on in the committee.
Since the government appeals each and every sentence and appeals take years in Italy, it is unlikely that any of the money will ever be disbursed. The two orphaned daughters, now in their eighties, would probably never get a penny of euros. From a legal point of view, I’m not surprised,” says Arria, the lawyer. “But as the grandson of a Jew who was deported to Auschwitz and never returned, I am horrified. “
© 2023, The Economist Journal Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, license published. The original content can be viewed on www. economist. com