Military prosecutors in a trial of seven members of Hitler's "Waffen SS", who allegedly committed atrocities against Italian civilians in the last phase of the Second World War, apparently believe that the accused were shielded from justice for decades by a secret organization. The men, who all live in Germany, stand trial in absentia for murdering 560 people in the Tuscan village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in 1944. Prosecutors are said to be convinced that only a meticulously organized conspiracy could explain the success of the soldiers in evading justice for so long. Apparently, the soldiers were protected for 60 years by an organization known as HIAG, an acronym for "Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit" ("Mutual Aid Association"). It is said that HIAG has been protecting ex-members of the "Waffen SS" from justice ever since the end of the war. It reportedly also includes younger neo-Nazis, skinheads and "ordinary" citizens. Such a conspiracy would resemble the alleged "Odessa" network of former SS officers which helped Nazi war criminals to find refuge in Latin America.