A young Erich Priebke. Photo: Bundesarchive.

JNS.org – World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder has expressed support over reports that Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman has given an order not to accept the body of Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke. Italian and Catholic authorities have also refused to bury Priebke or hold a funeral, Fox News reported.

Priebke took part in a 1944 massacre outside of Rome that killed 335 men and boys, including about 75 Jews. He was extradited from Argentina to Italy in 1995 and later convicted. Priebke was then ordered to house arrest, where he remained until his death Friday at age 100.

“We commend the government of Argentina, the Mayor of Rome, and the Church for refusing to give Erich Priebke posthumous rehabilitation and credibility. His corpse should be cremated and its ashes scattered in an unknown location, as was done with Adolf Eichmann and Osama Bin Laden,” Lauder said in a statement.