Germany began trial against a 94-year-old Nazi guard

The provincial court of Münster in the west of in Germany is judge of this Tuesday of a former guard of the Nazi SS, aged 94 for his alleged complicity in hundreds of deaths in the Nazi concentration camp of Stutthof on Polish territory, between June 1942 and September 1944.

The defendant, Johann R. ] born in Romania, admitted having worked as a guardian in this area, located near the town of Gdansk but said he knew nothing about the murders that had been committed there.

The Office of the Prosecutor is satisfied that the accused was fully aware of the brutal killing of camp prisoners and that, precisely because of his guardian status, many deaths could have occurred.

At Stutthof, more than 27,000 people died under the cameras. of gas, as executed from a stroke in the neck, poisoned, frozen, starved, exhausted by forced labor or lack of medical badistance .

Survivors will testify . 19659002] The lawyer of the nonagenarian badured before the beginning of the trial that his client had the intention to declare, without however specifying when nor how, informed the regional newspaper Westfälische Nachrichten .

The court provides until January, after 14 hearings in total and, given the advanced age of the accused, each hearing will be extended by up to two hours.

Up to 17 witnesses, including family members of the victims of Stutthof, are presented as civil parties at the trial. survivors of the Nazi concentration camp of Israel, the United States, Canada and Germany.

Two former Stutthof prisoners will testify to the situation in this concentration camp, one of the oldest and released one day after the end of the Second World War.

Stutthof was used as a forced labor camp and in 1944 a camera was installed there. gas

As the defendant was 18 years old when he began his service in the Nazi camp, the nonagenarian will be tried by a juvenile court .

Initially, it was expected that a second defendant, also guardian of the Nazi camp Stutthof, will also sit on the seat of the accused.

However, the trial, which must definitely end, will be separated, as it has not yet been possible to determine if the accused is able to face a lawsuit.