Waffen-SS Massacre of Distomo

On June 10, 1944, over two hours, Waffen-SS troops of the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division under the command of SS-Hauptsturmführer Fritz Lautenbach went door to door and massacred Greek civilians, reportedly in revenge for a partisan attack. A total of 218 men, women and children were killed. According to survivors, SS forces "bayoneted babies in their cribs, stabbed pregnant women, and beheaded the village priest."

In the course of a 'retaliation measure' against partisan resistance members of the 4th SS-police-armoured-infantry-division murdered 218 completely uninvolved town dwellers on the 10th June 1944 in Distomo, a small village near Delphi. The battle report states that 'members and suspects of gangs' were killed. However, survivors of the massacre reported afterwards that men as well as children were shot, women were violated and slaughtered. No soldier was ever held responsible for the massacre.

Argyris Sfountouris (protagonist of the film "A song for Argyris") was nearly four years of age in June 1944 and survived by chance. He lost his parents and 30 family members. Up until this day he and the other survivors and relatives have not received a single cent as compensation even though the Areopag, the Greek High court, has passed a legally binding decision in May 2000 obliging the Federal Republic of Germany to pay a sum of altogether 28 million Euro as compensation to the victims.

In the meantime Italian courts have likewise awarded compensation to Italian victims of the German occupation. The Greek victims were successful in their claim for enforceability of their legal titles against German property in Italy awarded by Greek courts. Germany has objected to this by saying that these were 'sovereign measures' and has claimed 'state immunity' for the war crimes and the crimes against international law. Both the Areopag as well as the Italian court of appeal have rejected this argument. In December 2008 the German government has filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice in Den Haag in order to circumvent the enforcement of the compensation claims. Its aim is to establish once and for all that this kind of lawsuits does not fall under the competence of the Italian courts, that their rulings constitute an infringement of international law and that they constitute an infringement of Germany' sovereignty rights. Germany attempts to reverse the roles and presents itself as a victim in these proceedings.

In the course of a 'retaliation measure' against partisan resistance members of the Mountain-Sapper-Battalion 818 murdered completely uninvolved inhabitants on the 27th June 1944 in Falzano di Cortona, a small Tuscan village. A 74-year old woman and a 14-year old boy as well as 3 men aged between 21 and 55 were shot during searches. 13 men between the ages of 15 and 74 were arrested, 11 of which were locked up in the 'Casa Canicci'. The house was mined and blown up. Miraculously the then 15-year old Gino M. survived. Angiola Lescai lost two of her relatives in the massacre.

In September 2006 the responsible officers of the unit, Herbert Stommel - commander of the battalion - and Josef Scheungraber - company commander - were sentenced in absence by the military court of La Spezia to lifelong imprisonment. Given that German law does not allow the extradition of German citizens the 90-year old Josef Scheungraber who is still fit to stand trial is standing trial since September 2008 at the jury court division of the district court of Munich. 65 years after the massacre many witnesses have died, the hearing of evidence is difficult and the outcome uncertain. Angiola Lescai is one of the co-plaintiffs in this trial.

Following the massacre, a Secret Field Police agent accompanying the German forces informed the authorities that, contrary to Lautenbach's official report, the German troops had come under attack several miles from Distomo and had not been fired upon "with mortars, machine-guns and rifles from the direction of Distomo". An inquiry was convened. Lautenbach admitted that he had gone beyond standing orders, but the tribunal found in his favour, holding that he had been motivated, not by negligence or ignorance, but by a sense of responsibility towards his men.

Σφαγή του Διστόμου

Οι Γερμανοί μπήκαν στο Δίστομο και σε αντίποινα άρχισαν την σφαγή όσων κατοίκων έβρισκαν στο χωριό. Η μανία τους ήταν τόσο μεγάλη, ώστε δεν ξεχώριζαν από το μακελειό ούτε τα γυναικόπαιδα ούτε τους ηλικιωμένους. Τον ιερέα του χωριού τον αποκεφάλισαν, βρέφη εκτελέστηκαν και γυναίκες βιάστηκαν πριν θανατωθούν. Η σφαγή σταμάτησε μόνον όταν νύχτωσε και αναγκάστηκαν να επιστρέψουν στην Λειβαδιά, αφού πρώτα έκαψαν τα σπίτια του χωριού. Οι εκτελέσεις συνεχίστηκαν και κατά την επιστροφή των Γερμανών στην βάση τους, καθώς σκότωναν όποιον άμαχο έβρισκαν στον δρόμο τους. Οι νεκροί του Δίστομου έφτασαν τους 228, εκ των οποίων οι 117 γυναίκες και 111 άντρες, ανάμεσά τους 53 παιδιά κάτω των 16 χρόνων. Η μαρτυρία του απεσταλμένου του Διεθνούς Ερυθρού Σταυρού Eλβετού George Wehrly ο οποίος έφτασε στο Δίστομο μετά λίγες μέρες μιλάει για 600 νεκρούς στην ευρύτερη περιοχή.