A 100-year-old former guard of a concentration camp became today (October 7) the oldest person yet to be tried for Nazi-era crimes in Germany, 76 years after the end of World War II.
The suspect, identified only as "Josef S" because of privacy laws, is accused of collaborating in the shooting of prisoners of war and is accused of "knowingly and willingly" helping to kill 3,518 prisoners between 1942 and and 1945 at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
The accused, who has lived in the Brandenburg area for years, has refused to speak publicly about the trial. Attorney Thomas Walther, who represents the horror survivors and their relatives, has devoted years of retirement work to prosecuting the last surviving Nazis, regardless of their age.
Justice has no "expiration date", the lawyer stressed. "Prosecution of older men and women is seen as somewhat problematic after 75 years, even if it involves 1,000 or 5,000 murders in which active assistance was provided by the accused."
"The relatives of those killed, countless families who have completely disappeared, are entitled to this belated justice," Walther said.
Josef S was 21 years old when he first became a guard at Sachsenhausen in 1942. Now almost 101 years old, he is considered fit to appear in court for up to two and a half hours a day. The trial will continue until January.
Walther added that trials serve as a valid prevention even today. "It's always a reminder of the present - there are places and actions you can't be a part of."
The trial was deemed extremely important for 17 Sachsenhausen co-plaintiffs, relatives of the victims and survivors.
Located about 30 kilometers north of Berlin, the Sachsenhausen camp held 200,000 prisoners between 1936 and 1945, mostly resistance fighters, Jews, political opponents, homosexuals and prisoners of war.
100,000 prisoners died from forced labor, murder, medical experiments, starvation or disease, according to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum.
Sources: Euronews, Guardian
