police. Trials Italy In 1946, the documents relating to the inquiry into the massacre were handed over to Italian authorities but, like so many, the files were placed in the Palazzo Cesi-Gaddi war crimes archive and only rediscovered in 1994. In 1991 the Public Prosecutor's Office in Santa Maria Capua Vetere opened an investigation at about the same time authorities in Germany began investigating the case. On 25 October 1994, the court in Santa Maria Capua Vetere sentenced Schuster and Lehnigk-Emden to life in prison in absentia but neither was extradited or served any time. Germany In 1993, Lehnigk-Emden was put on trial at the state court of Koblenz for the murder of fifteen civilians, as the court classified the killing of the remaining seven as manslaughter. The court in Koblenz eventually dismissed the charges on 18 January 1994 on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired, and declined to extradite Lehnigk-Emden. The case progressed as far as the German high court, the Bundesgerichtshof, which confirmed the ruling of the court in Koblenz and let Lehnigk-Emden go free. At the same time, the ruling judge stated that the crime was so terrible it would even have resulted in a conviction in a Nazi court. Germany abolished its statute of limitations laws for murder in 1969, but the case had been tried under the old laws. Commemoration The massacre remains strong in the mind of the community of Caiazzo. Flowers are regularly laid at the scene and schoolchildren are told about it from a young age. However, the local priest at the time, Don Gerardo Fava, stated in 1993 that the community did not seek revenge, only justice. In 1995, Lehnigk-Emden apologized for his actions, blaming them on the chaotic situation near the front lines and his youth and inexperience. This apology was not accepted by Nicola Sorbo, the mayor of Caiazzo, who suggested that if Lehnigk-Emden was sincere in his repentance, he would return to Italy to face the courts. Lehnigk-Emden's hometown, Ochtendung, was branded as a "Nazi village", but, in 1995, entered a town twinning agreement with Caiazzo, which had been suggested by the latter. In December 2017, it was announced that the German embassy had approved €30,000 in funding for a museum in Caiazzo commemorating the massacre. References History of Campania Murder in Italy Massacres in the Italian Social Republic World War II massacres October 1943