(File) Former SS officer, Erich Priebke leaves his lawyer's office in Rome, 18 June, 2007.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Erich Priebke was under house arrest at the time of his death
- He was sentenced to life in prison for war crimes
- He was convicted for his role in the massacre of 335 people in 1944
Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke, who was serving a life sentence for his role in the massacre of 335 people in Italy in 1944, has died, his lawyer said Friday.
Priebke, 100, spent the last years of his life under house arrest.
He left behind a video interview, lawyer Paolo Giachini said, though its contents were not immediately available.
Priebke was convicted in an Italian court in 1998 for ordering the execution of hundreds of Jewish men and boys near Rome. The order was issued in retaliation for a partisan attack on German troops occupying Italy.
After the war, he managed to flee to Argentina, where he lived as a free man for half a century before being extradited to face trial in Italy.
Because of his age at the time of his conviction, Priebke was allowed to serve his time under house arrest, and was even able to leave home each day to work at the office of a lawyer.
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