German Constitutional Court: No Compensation for SS massacre

The German Constitutional Court ruled on March 3rd, 2006, that Germany does not have to pay compensation to the descendant of Greeks who were killed by members of the SS during WW II.

July 10th, 1944, the partents of the plaintiffs were executed by the SS in the Greek town of Distomo. Taking revenge for killings by Greek partisans, the SS exterminated the town and murdered between 200 and 300 inhabitents, among them elder, women, and children. After that, the town was burnt to the ground.

The Court reasoned that Art. 3 of the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV) does not provide any individual right of compensation. It is part of international law and only regulates a legal relationship between states, not between a state (i.e. Germany) and individuals (i.e. the plaintiffs).