The Italian appeal Court of Cassations in Rome upheld torts lawsuits filed by Italian soldiers who were interned and forced into labor by the Nazis. Germany raised a sovereign immunity defense. Germany, which has paid out billions in reparations to Holocaust survivors, refused a claim of 60 million euros compensation to 600,000 Italian soldiers who were interned after Fascist Italy declared a truce in September 1943.

As a result, the Nazis deported many of the Italian soldiers to Germany to work in factories without pay. In court, Germany argued that the soldiers were prisoners of war and therefore there was no basis for the claim. On the other hand, Germany argued, that it compensated Italian civilians who were forced into work. 50 of claims against Germany were allowed, because the deportation of the Italian forces was a crime against humanity.

The German Foundation established to compensate forced laborers, insisted that the Italian court had no jurisdiction over the foundation. The plaintiffs failed in similar lawsuit in Berlin filed in 2004 against the Memory, Responsibility and Future Foundation.

The foundation paid out 1.9 million euros to 3,395 Italians who were forced as civilians to work in Nazi Germany.