Ardeatine killer dies at 100yrs

[caesar novus]

An easy stroll from Appia Antica is the Ardeatine Cave WW2 massacre site turned into a memorial... "one of the most touching places in Rome" says http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187791-d240660-Reviews-Fosse_Ardeatine-Rome_Lazio.html . It was especially chilling to visit knowing that the man in charge, Erich Priebke, was still living practically walking distance away under house arrest. Well, today he died at age 100 http://news.yahoo.com/erich-priebke-ex-nazi-officer-never-repented-180705952.html . About half of that century wasn't spent locked up, but living well and openly in Argentina after he escaped from a British POW camp.

 

You'd think this would be a dreary reminder of one of umpteen reprisals against civilians (335 in this case), but the story is amazing enough to inspire 2 movies. A lot of contradictory info exists on the web about it... was it really originally a Christian catacomb site? There are colorful web sites on it like http://www.zchor.org/italy/caves.htm or more careful narratives like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardeatine_massacre .

 

The triggering event was partisan killing of at least 28 SS soldiers on parade, and unsurprisingly a lot of civilian reprisals were ordered. The story of the scramble to find enough "worthy" victims (finally too many), and then getting soldiers drunk enough to bear the killing is almost surreal. It seems clear that many were reluctantly following orders, although Erich wasn't reluctant enough for the courts... sort of fatalistic.

 

On my visit I misinterpreted the exhibits labelled in Italian to focus on the explosives part (visit the crater above the roof of the caves), and almost wanted to visit and punch Erich. Anyway if you are ever crazy enough to walk to or from the Appian way from Rome, it is best to go via this memorial which offers the only pedestrian friendly approach. Otherwise the Appian way necks down to having no sidewalks on the edge of Rome and cars will scrape you against the walls even on a Sunday.