A 98-year-old man in Germany is facing charges of being an accessory to murder for his role as a guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II. The man, a German citizen residing in Main-Kinzig county near Frankfurt, allegedly supported the killing of thousands of prisoners as a member of the SS guard detail. The exact number of victims is uncertain, but estimates range from 40,000 to 50,000. Prosecutors have filed an indictment with more than 3,300 counts of being an accessory to murder between July 1943 and February 1945.
The suspect’s name has not been released, but a report by a psychiatric expert last October deemed him fit to stand trial, at least on a limited basis. If the case goes to trial, the man will be tried under juvenile law due to his age at the time of the alleged crimes. Sachsenhausen held over 200,000 people during its existence, and tens of thousands died from various causes, including starvation, disease, forced labor, medical experiments, and systematic extermination operations.
German prosecutors have brought similar cases in recent years, allowing for the prosecution of individuals who facilitated the functioning of Nazi camps without direct evidence of their involvement in specific killings. These charges are not subject to a statute of limitations under German law. However, due to the advanced age of the accused, many trials have been canceled for health reasons. Convictions in these cases do not result in imprisonment, as some defendants pass away before serving their sentences.
Several elderly individuals have been found guilty in these late trials, including Oskar Groening, known as the “Accountant of Auschwitz,” and Reinhold Hanning, both former guards at Auschwitz. However, both men died before being imprisoned. Josef Schuetz, a 101-year-old former Nazi camp guard, was convicted last year but died while awaiting the outcome of his appeal. Irmgard Furchner, a 97-year-old former concentration camp secretary, became the first woman in decades to be tried for Nazi crimes and was found guilty of complicity in the murders of over 10,500 people.
These cases highlight the ongoing efforts to hold surviving SS personnel accountable for their involvement in the Holocaust. The trials serve as a reminder of the atrocities committed during this dark period in history and the importance of justice, even many years later.
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