Oskar Groening , a 94 - yr - old former Auschwitz sentry duty , acknowledge to feeling “ moral guilt feelings ” for serving as an SS sergeant at the infamous Nazi destruction camp . The turning point ruling shows that courts are uncoerced to pursue those involved in the Holocaust irrespective of their “ nonaged ” roles or advanced eld .
After a two - and - a - one-half calendar month trial in the northerly German city of Lueneburg , preside judge Franz Kompisch rule that the former guard duty was shamed of being an accessory to the murder of 300,000 Jews . The former guard now faces four years in prison , which , given the severity of the charges , seems absurdly indulgent . harmonize to his testimonial , Groening — the so - called “ bookkeeper of Auschwitz”—oversaw the collection of prisoner ’ property and ensured that valuable and money were beam to Berlin .
Efraim Zuroff , the Simon Wiesenthal Center ’s head Nazi hunting watch , told theAssociated Pressthat the case notice an important legal milepost .
“ This finding of fact was decisive , because this is the first fount brought where the prosecution charged a soul who was n’t involved in the physical side of aggregate murder , ” he was quoted as sound out . “ This paves the means for extra test of individuals who did not literally pull the trigger but who were part of the implementation of the Final Solution . ”
As lawyer Cornelius Nestler tell Reuters , the case demonstrated that Auschwitz as a whole was “ a slaying machinery , ” and that “ Everyone who participated in it has to take obligation for it . ”
The verdict also designate that courts are willing to prosecute former members of the SS who served at death camps , disregarding of their age .
Asreportedin the BBC , Groening ’s lawyers indicate that the former guard did not help race murder . prosecutor counter - argue by saying he helped the coterie run swimmingly .
Judge Kompisch said Groening had willingly take a “ safe desk job ” in a system that was “ inhumane and all but unbearable for the human soul . ” The justice added that Groening recognize on the button what was transpiring at the Auschwitz - Birkenau complex in Nazi - occupied Poland , but did nothing to have himself transport away , which in all likeliness would have seen him sent to the lethal Russian front .
“ It is a question of courage and a personal determination , ” say Kompisch . “ You decide on a job where the possibility of your own death was relatively minimum . ”
The charges date stamp back to a menses between May and July 1944 , when hundreds of thousands of Jews from Hungary were brought to the dying camp , most of whom were like a shot gassed to destruction .
[ AP|BBC ]
tightness campsCrimeHistoryjustice
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