MAR 29, 2024 JLM 75Β°F 01:16 PM 06:16 AM EST
Ex-SS Camp Guard, Aged 100, on Trial for 3,518 Deaths

A former SS guard, now 100 years old, hobbled into a German courtroom on a walking frame today to face charges of helping to send more than 3,000 people to their deaths in a Nazi concentration camp during World War Two.

Prosecutors say Josef S., a member of the Nazi party's paramilitary SS, contributed to the deaths of 3,518 people at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp by regularly standing guard in the watchtower between 1942 and 1945.

Doctors have said that the man, whose full name was not disclosed due to German trial reporting rules, is only partially fit to stand trial: sessions will be limited to just two and a half hours each day.

As the trial began, his lawyer held up a blue folder to conceal his client's face as he was brought into the court in Neuruppin, near Berlin.

Some people interned in Sachsenhausen were murdered with Zyklon-B, the poison gas also used in other extermination camps where millions of Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

Sachsenhausen housed predominantly political prisoners from all over Europe, along with Soviet prisoners of war and some Jews.

"It's a lot of emotion... I can't really speak," said Antoine Grumbach, 79, before turning abruptly away as he was overcome by tears. His father, a French resistance fighter, died in the camp.

Leon Schwarzbaum, who is 100 years old, sat quietly waiting for the trial to start in the courtroom, showing reporters a photo of him with his parents and uncle, who all died in Auschwitz.

Prosecutors accuse Josef S. of "contributing to cruel and insidious murders" by aiding in "creating and maintaining life-threatening conditions in the camp."

There has been a spate of charges brought against former concentration camp guards in recent years for World War Two crimes against humanity. Last week, a 96-year-old former camp secretary went on the run the day her trial was to begin but was caught by police a few hours later.

A 2011 court ruling paved the way for these final prosecutions, stating that even those who contributed indirectly to wartime murders, without pulling a trigger or giving an order, could bear criminal responsibility.

Sachsenhausen, which opened in 1936 as one of the earliest Nazi concentration camps, acted as a training camp for SS guards who then went to serve elsewhere, including in Auschwitz and Treblinka. Others killed at Sachsenhausen included Dutch resistance fighters and the Nazis' domestic political opponents.

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Comments
Judson Kastner 19:24 07.10.2021
Like all of us, we have all sinned, but this justice does need to be served no matter what the degree; justice will also be served to us no matter what the degree. BELIEVE IT- IT WILL happen .
Byron Scherer 18:04 07.10.2021
Sad part all of you wanting them to burn in hell are literally going to hear their wailing and feel the same maggots for eternity. I pray that you all will answer the knock at the door of your heart.
Shirley Anne 17:34 07.10.2021
By hiding his DAMNABLE Face, does he think he can HIDE from HaShem⁉️ Oye πŸ™„βš οΈπŸ™„βš οΈπŸ™„
Dawn Jones 17:32 07.10.2021
Everyone that had a part of the holocaust will stand up befor God one day . Vengance is mine saith the lord .....
Shirley Anne 17:32 07.10.2021
ALL NAZIS WILL BURN πŸ”₯ IN HELL β€” COMPLETELY OBLITERATED, WITH NO CHANCE OF MAKING T’SHUVAH πŸ‘πŸΌ MAY IT BE SOON β€” HAYOM YOM πŸ‘ŒπŸΌ HaShem IS WATCHING πŸ‘€
Danny Brackett 17:06 07.10.2021
Liberal Jewish hate in America even denies! That is where we are!
Nick Horsky 17:04 07.10.2021
AND many in the USA want to return to those dark days. History will repeat because humans are very very stupid! Barely intelligent!
Desiree Siefkas 16:59 07.10.2021
How can anyone endure these horrific deaths suffered by the Jewish people? How can anyone send people to their deaths ? The Grand Mufti (A Sunni Muslim)of Jerusalem requested the Jews be burned.
Selina 16:39 07.10.2021
May all Nazis ROT IN HELL πŸ”₯πŸ”₯
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