ROME A former Nazi SS captain, Mr Erich Priebke, told a military court yesterday he considered his role in Italy's worst second World War massacre a personal tragedy, but said refusing to take part would have changed nothing.
Mr Priebke (83) read a prepared statement in Rome's high-security Rebibbia jail where he is standing trial on charges of complicity in the 1944 Ardeatine Caves massacre of 335 men and boys, 75 of them Jews.
"I had never killed before that day and, luckily, I have never had to do so again," Mr Priebke said, speaking in Italian. He has previously admitted killing two people in the massacre. "As I have said many times, carrying out that terrible order was for me a horrendous thing, a personal tragedy."
Mr Priebke spoke for half an hour during his first appearance in the military court since the trial opened in April.