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The former Nazi guard Josef Schütz was called by the German Justice, accused of “complicity” in the murders of 3,518 prisoners in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, near Berlin, between 1942 and 1945.
This Thursday began the process against Josef Schütz, former guard of the Schutzstaffel (SS) in the time of Adolf Hitler. He is accused of having been “an accomplice” in the deaths of thousands of people held in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.
The defendant, who is the oldest to answer for the Nazi crimes before the German Justice, turns 101 on November 16. The man is accused of having shot Soviet prisoners; of aiding and abetting in systematic killings with the deadly Zyklon B gas and for the detention of prisoners under hostile conditions. Schütz was 21 years old when the murders occurred.
Due to his advanced age, a group of doctors said Thursday that the man is only partially fit to stand trial. The first of the 22 scheduled hearings lasted just one hour due to Schütz’s poor health. The following sessions will be limited to just two and a half hours a day.
A trial for murders that occurred almost 80 years ago
From his entrance to the courtroom in the German city of Neuruppin, the 100-year-old man covered his face with a blue folder so that he would not be photographed.
When the trial started, it was Stefan Waterkamp, Josef Schütz’s lawyer, who held up the folder for his client to speak.
The former Nazi guard did not want to comment on the facts that are accused of him, however, it is expected that in this Friday’s session he will testify about his personal situation, as long as it is not related to the accusations, German media said.
Later, prosecutors in the case began to speak of Schütz’s indictment for “contributing to cruel and insidious killings” by helping to “create and maintain conditions” that threatened life in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
During the reading of a part of the indictment, which contains a total of 134 pages, the prosecutor Cyrill Klement referred to the systematic murder of thousands of prisoners and practices such as mass shootings in special enclosures, extermination actions in gas chambers and death by weakening and disease.
“The defendant consciously and deliberately supported, at least with the meticulous performance of the surveillance task as an integral part” of the murderous machinery, the prosecutor said.
“Something can happen”
The hearing on Thursday was attended by 16 witnesses, including seven concentration camp survivors and nine relatives of victims.
A mixture of feelings was reflected on their faces when they saw Josef Schütz enter the audience room. “I’m excited. It’s been 80 years since I lost my father and this guy is a dirty guy, a bastard who rejects the possibility of guilt, “Frenchman Antoine Grumbach, 79, told AFP.
Grumbach’s father was assassinated in March 1944 in Sachsenhausen. His son attended the opening of the trial this Thursday in his memory.
For his part, Thomas Walther, lawyer for 11 of the 16 witnesses, hopes that something could happen from all this: “for the plaintiffs, the fact that he appeared at their trial is already a positive sign (…) something can happen . Perhaps that man finally decides, before the last minute, to explain about his past, “said the lawyer.
The Sachsenhausen camp operated from 1936 to 1945 when it was dismantled by the Soviet military. About 200,000 people were held there, mainly political opponents, Jews and homosexuals. Many of them died of exhaustion due to forced labor and the cruel conditions in which they lived.
The Josef Schütz trial takes place days after the trial of 96-year-old Irmgard Furchner, who worked as a typist in the Stutthof concentration camp. Last week she was accused of being “an accessory” in more than 11,000 deaths during World War II. However, the woman was released and the reading of the accusation was postponed until October 19.
With Reuters, EFE and local media
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