The payment comes after a 2022 law passed by the government of ex-prime minister Mario Draghi, an MP for the opposition.

The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) announced the payment on Wednesday.

PD Senator Dario Parrini, the vice president of the Upper House’s Constitutional Affairs Committee, said the payment came “after a long wait featuring setbacks and hurdles of every type”.

The economy ministry paid 800,000 euros to the decedents of Metello Ricciarini, one of 244 people murdered in a Nazi massacre in the Tuscan town of Civitella in Val di Chiana on June 29, 1944.

He said this payment was established by a ruling by the supreme court dating back to 2008.

“This good news does not let us lower our guard on the commitment to ensuring that the rights of the victims’ heirs are fully satisfied,” said Parrini.

“Many problems remain.

“There are rulings similar to the Ricciarini one, as well as more recent ones, which the economy ministry has not yet honoured.

“The economy ministry is still putting up inexplicable resistance.”

ANSA