There were two famous reprisals, perpetrated by the Germans during World War II: the reprisal at Oradour-sur-Glane in France, and the reprisal against Italian partisans at the Ardeatine Caves in Italy.

Reprisals were legal during World War II, although a reprisal is no longer legal in today’s world. Partisans were illegal combatants during World War II. The Germans used legal reprisals, during World War II, as an effective way to stop the illegal fighting by partisans.

Now all that has changed; the legal reprisals, which were done by the Germans in World War II, are now called “war crimes.” Anyone who was present during a legal reprisal can now be put on trial in a German court, as a war criminal. One of these war criminals was Erich Priebke, who was present during the legal reprisal at the Ardeatine Caves.

This quote is from the website of Pamela L. Fiedler, which you can read at http://pamelafiedler.wordpress.com/

Does society allow the lunacy of yesterday to become today’s exception and tomorrow’s routine? In my previous blog “The Eyes of Truth” I shared a link to an article written by Klaus Wiegrefe titled: “How Postwar Germany Let War Criminals Go Free.” It outlines the spring of 1944 and the Ardeatine Caves near Rome, Italy. Taken five at a time, 335 men were herded into these caves by Nazi troops. An SS Officer by the name of Erich Priebke was the man who crossed the names off the list, before the innocent victims were forced to kneel prior to being shot. As the bodies piled up, the next group had to climb over. When the act of genocide was complete, the SS blew up the caves.

What a difference 70 years makes! A reprisal is now called an “act of genocide.”

Here is how Wikipedia describes this same reprisal:

On 23 March 1944, a column of the German 11th Company, 3rd Battalion, S.S. Police Regiment ‘Bozen’, was attacked by an ambush of Partisans while marching and singing. The attack was carried out by 16 partisans of the Communist-dominated resistance organisation Gruppo d’Azione Patriottica (“Patriotic Action Group”) or GAP. An improvised explosive device was prepared consisting of 12 kilograms of TNT packed in a steel case. This was inserted into a bag containing an additional six kilograms of TNT and TNT filled iron tubing. Although reported as having been thrown from a building, the bomb had actually been hidden in a rubbish cart, pushed into position by a Partisan disguised as a street cleaner, while others acted as lookouts. The fuse was lit when the police were forty seconds from the bomb. The blast caused the immediate deaths of 28 SS policemen and at least two civilian bystanders, one of whom, Piero Zuccheretti, was an eleven-year old boy. More would die over the next few days. All sixteen Partisans — some of whom fired on the German column — succeeded in melting away into the crowd unscathed.[5].

In today’s world, the Partisans who fought illegally, blowing up German soldiers who were marching, are heroes. The Germans, who fought legally, on the battlefield, are the bad guys.