epa01561027 A file photo reportedly taken on 10 June 1944 by an anonymous German soldier shows German occupation troops in the ransacked south-central Greek town of Distomo, Thebes prefecture, shortly after 218 local residents were executed as part of Nazi reprisals for the activity of partisans in the area. An appellate court in Florence, Italy, on 25 November 2008 ruled that a verdict handed down by Greek first instance court ordering the German state to pay 50 million euros in damages to victims’ families is valid. A constitutional court ruled in 1992 that cases involving Nazi massacres or mass executions can be tried in Italy, regardless of whether the crime was committed in a third country. EPA/STR BLACK AND WHITE ONLY