Massacre probe heads for Greece
BERLIN (AP) – A German prosecutor who reopened an investigation into the World War II massacre of nearly 4,700 Italian soldiers by Nazi troops said yesterday he intends to interview witnesses on the Greek island where the Germans brutally turned on their former allies. The 1943 killings on Cephalonia, which provided the backdrop for the best-selling book and Hollywood movie «Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,» were first investigated by German prosecutors in the 1960s, but no one was ever charged. A Dortmund prosecutor, Ulrich Maass, is now pulling together new evidence that could lead to murder charges against eight Wehrmacht officers suspected of involvement in the killings, all of them in their 80s or older. Maass said he has written to Greek authorities asking permission to question eight witnesses regarding the massacre of soldiers from the Acqui Division. «I’m waiting for the Greeks’ response,» Maass said in a telephone interview. «These are small steps and I can’t say what will come of it. We have to try.»
