'Our responsibility is not in doubt' says Westerwelle
Germany said it will continue to work with Italy to protect victim's rights following a decision from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday that upheld its appeal against Italy over compensation for Nazi war crimes.
"We will address all issues pertaining to the ruling in collaborations with our Italian friends in the spirit of close bilateral relations and confidence," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. Calling it a victory for state's rights, the foreign minister added that the ruling did not "relativize or put in doubt Germany's responsibility for World War II crimes". The court in The Hague ruled Italy "failed to recognise the immunity" granted by international law for the Third Reich's crimes. It ordered Rome to annul compensation orders by Italy's courts for 12 Italians who were taken prisoner by Nazi forces and deported to Germany for slave labor after Benito Mussolini fell from power and Italy abandoned its former ally in September 1943.
In November 2008 Italy and Germany agreed to set up a joint commission to probe legal claims linked to the Second World War as well as the fate of thousands of Italian deportees.
Then foreign minister Franco Frattini announced the decision at a commemoration service with then German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the former Risiera di San Sabba Nazi concentration camp near Trieste.
Steinmeier, who was the first representative of the German government to visit the camp since the end of WWII, expressed ''deep sympathy'' over the ''suffering'' of Italian soldiers who were taken prisoner.
''We owe them and their memory commemoration and explanation, not silence and dismissal,'' he said.
A former rice mill, the Risiera di San Sabba camp was the only camp with a crematorium in Italy.
More than 3,000 partisans and Jews are thought to have been killed there.
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