101-year-old ex-Nazi guard sentenced to five years in prison

A German court convicted a 101-year-old man believed to be a former guard at a Nazi concentration camp. According to the court, he is guilty of being an accessory to 3,518 counts of murder.

Former Nazi concentration camp guard convicted?

The 101-year-old man on Tuesday got five years in prison sentence by the Neuruppin Regional Court. The man, identified only as Josef S. due to Germany’s strict privacy laws is believed to be the oldest living person to be tried on charges from the Holocaust era.

Josef S denied the allegations that he worked as an SS guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, north of Berlin, from 1942 to 1945.

However, the man is claiming he was working as a farm laborer during the time. Standing by his words, he refused his aid to the Nazis and their murder machine.

Despite being convicted, prosecutors were unable to directly link him to the deaths of the prisoners.

His lawyer also said that Josef S would appeal the decision if the authorities attempt to send him to prison. However, it is unclear if he would get a medical commission clearing owing to his advanced age and health conditions.

“You willingly supported this mass extermination with your activity,” presiding Judge Udo Lechtermann said.

“The court has come to the conclusion that, contrary to what you claim, you worked in the concentration camp as a guard for about three years.”, added the Judge.

Not a surprising move for Germany

The conviction is not surprising and is stemming from the result of two recent developments. Earlier this year, Germany’s highest criminal court ruled that people who worked as guards at concentration camps could still be convicted, even if no specific crimes can be proven.

Additionally, Nazi concentration camp records by the Red Army were examined in Russia in 2018. This led to the discovery of Josef S’ name.

“We go by the simple principle that murder does not have a statute of limitations. It is what’s right and of course, it would have been what was right 70 years ago,” stated Thomas Will. Will is a leader of the German government office that is in charge of investigating crimes from the Nazi era.

The Sachsenhausen concentration camp was established in the north of Berlin in 1936. Moreover, it was the first made following Hitler handing full control of the Nazi camp system to the SS.

The camp was also intended to be a training camp and model facility for the labyrinthine network built by the Nazis. Between 1936 and 1945, over 200,000 people were in the camp. Tens of thousands died following starvation, forced labor, disease, and medical experimentation by the SS. Several others lost their lives following the SS’ extermination operations.