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Agency Report
Hanau, Germany – A 100-year-old man alleged to have been a Nazi concentration camp guard may yet face trial in a German court, after a new ruling on Tuesday.
In May, the Hanau Regional Court near the city of Frankfurt rejected the opening of a main trial after an expert determined that the man was unfit to stand trial, be questioned and travel.
This decision has now been overturned by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt, which called upon the lower court to conduct further investigations into the accused’s fitness for trial.
The expert’s reports have several deficiencies, according to the Higher Regional Court.
Director of public prosecutions says trial of historical significance
“I welcome the decision of the Higher Regional Court that the fitness of the accused to stand trial will be thoroughly re-examined,” said Frankfurt Director of Public Prosecutions Torsten Kunze. “Should the main proceedings be initiated, it could be the last trial of this kind, highlighting the historical significance of the case.”
“There is now the chance that the trial can take place. However, it is not certain,” Nils Lund, spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office, told dpa. Given the advanced age of the accused, urgency is required in determining his fitness for trial, he said. However, there is no deadline for the regional court.
Youth chamber responsible for the 100-year-old
Charges were filed against the man last year, alleging that as a young adult, he served as a guard in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp to the north of Berlin.
As he was a youth at the time of the alleged crimes, the Youth Chamber of the Hanau Regional Court had to decide on the admissability of the charge.
The man from the Main-Kinzig district, which includes Hanau, is accused of aiding and abetting murder in more than 3,300 cases from July 1943 to February 1945. As a member of the SS guard units, the German national is alleged to have “supported the cruel and treacherous killing of thousands of inmates.”
Member of SS Guard Battalion
As a member of an SS guard battalion, the man is alleged to have been involved, among other things, in guarding the inmates housed there. He is also said to have been tasked with escorting arriving inmates from the railway station to the main camp and guarding prisoner transports.
During the period of the offences, at least 3,318 inmates are said to have died in the camp due to the prevailing living and housing conditions, as well as through shootings and the use of poison gas.
