On June 10, 1944, hundreds of people in the Greek village of Distomo were massacred by German troops in retaliation for Resistance activities nearby. Survivors and relatives of victims of this Distomo massacre sued Germany in Greek courts during 1995. Germany did not appear and the trial court entered a default judgment, upheld on appeal by the Greek Court of Cassation. However, the Greek Justice Minister refused to grant the required permission to enforce the judgment in Greece. In response, the plaintiffs attempted to enforce the judgment at the European Court of Human Rights and in the German courts, but were denied on grounds of state immunity. Finally, after the "Ferrini" decision, the plaintiffs petitioned for enforcement in Italy; the Italian courts agreed to enforce the judgment and during 2007 the plaintiffs placed a legal charge on Villa Vigoni, a property in Italy owned by the German state.