In a continuation of Germany’s ongoing effort to bring justice for Holocaust victims, a 98-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard has been charged as an accomplice in more than 3,300 murders. The individual, whose identity has not been released, is being accused by prosecutors in Giessen, Germany, of having collaborated in the “brutal and malicious” killing of thousands of people between July 1943 and February 1945
The case is now in the hands of a court in the state of Hanau, which will determine whether the matter goes to trial. If he does, the defendant will be tried under juvenile law because of his age at the time of the alleged crimes. The prosecution confirmed that, based on a psychiatric evaluation, the defendant has the mental capacity to stand trial, at least to a limited extent.
The man served as a member of the SS guard at Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp located north of Berlin. Throughout its existence between 1936 and 1945, the camp detained more than 200,000 people. Death tolls vary, but are estimated to be between 40,000 and 100,000, as a result of starvation, disease, forced labor, medical experiments, and violent killings.
This case comes in the wake of a growing number of prosecutions against those involved in the Nazi regime. Under recent legal precedent, people can now be tried for aiding and abetting the operation of a concentration camp, even without direct evidence linking them to specific murders.
These legal moves signal Germany’s continued commitment to confronting and repairing its dark history, even as those directly involved end their lives.
This article is sourced from and written by AI.
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