Former Nazi camp guard, now 100, can face trial, German court rules
A former Nazi SS guard, accused of aiding and abetting over 3,300 murders at Sachsenhausen camp during World War II, could face trial.
A 100-year-old former guard at a Nazi concentration camp, accused of “aiding and abetting” the murder of over 3,300 prisoners during World War II, may face trial 80 years after the end of the war, a German court has ruled.
The defendant worked at Sachsenhausen camp, which is around 25 miles north of Berlin, from July 1943 to February 1945, the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt said Tuesday in a news release.
The guard's name has not been disclosed because of German reporting rules.
The Frankfurt court said public prosecutors had initially “brought charges against the now 100-year-old accused for aiding and abetting murder in 3,322 cases” in the summer of 2023, before the Hanau Regional Court suspended proceedings this year after an expert concluded that the man was “unfit to stand trial, be questioned, and travel."
The higher court overturned that decision after finding that the expert’s assessment of the defendant's health had not been based on “sufficient facts."
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