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Verdict awaited in Nazi war trial Nazi war criminal jailed for life
(20 minutes later)
A court in Munich is due to deliver its verdict in one of Germany's last Nazi war crimes trials. A former German infantry commander has been jailed for life for his role in the killing of 14 civilians in an Italian village during World War II.
Former German infantry commander Josef Scheungraber, 90, is accused of ordering the killing of 14 civilians in a Tuscan village on 26 June 1944. A Munich state court found 90-year-old Josef Scheungraber guilty of ordering the killings, in what was one of the last Nazi crimes trials in Germany.
He had previously been sentenced in absentia by an Italian military court to life in prison. Scheungraber had previously been sentenced in absentia by an Italian military court to life in prison.
He denies the charges, saying he handed the victims to the military police and did not know what happened to them. The killings took place in Falzano di Cortona, in Tuscany, on 26 June 1944.
Prosecutors say Scheungraber, as a 25-year-old Wehrmacht lieutenant, ordered the brutal killings in Falzano di Cortona in revenge for an attack by Italian partisans that left two German soldiers dead. Scheungraber denied the charges, saying he handed the victims to the military police and did not know what happened to them.
German troops are alleged to have shot dead a 74-year-old woman and three men in the street before forcing 11 others into a farmhouse which they then blew up. The court found Scheungraber, as a 25-year-old Wehrmacht lieutenant, had ordered the brutal killings in revenge for an attack by Italian partisans that left two German soldiers dead.
German troops shot dead a 74-year-old woman and three men in the street before forcing 11 others into a farmhouse which they then blew up.
Only the youngest - a 15-year-old boy named Gino Massetti - survived, and he gave evidence during the trial in Munich.Only the youngest - a 15-year-old boy named Gino Massetti - survived, and he gave evidence during the trial in Munich.
Scheungraber, the former commander of a company of engineers, has lived for decades as a free man, and served on the town council in Ottobrunn, outside Munich. Scheungraber, the former commander of a company of engineers, had lived for decades as a free man, and served on the town council in Ottobrunn, outside Munich.
He ran a furniture shop, attended German veterans' marches and recently received an award for municipal service.He ran a furniture shop, attended German veterans' marches and recently received an award for municipal service.