Germany court resumes accused Nazi guard’s trial News
Germany court resumes accused Nazi guard’s trial

[JURIST] A judge for the Lueneburg state court in Germany said the trial against a 93-year-old former Auschwitz guard can resume, finding him fit to stand trial. Oskar Gröening was charged [JURIST report] with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder and faces a maximum of 15 years in prison for processing the belongings of the victims and supporting the Nazi efforts economically. Last week the trial was canceled for a day after Gröening became sick. Judge Franz Kompisch stated [Daily Mail report] that because of Gröening’s age and health, trial sessions will last only three hours each day. The court heard testimony [Telegraph report] on Tuesday from a Holocaust survivor, Ivor Perl, who was 12 years old when he was sent to Auschwitz and lost his parents and seven siblings. The trial is scheduled to end in July.

Despite the ages of the accused, German prosecutors have reopened [JURIST report] hundreds of investigations involving former death camp guards after the conviction [JURIST report] of John Demjanjuk in May 2011 for the murder of thousands during the Holocaust. In May 2013 German authorities arrested [JURIST report] a 93-year-old man, Hans Lipschis, for allegedly serving as a guard at Auschwitz and assisting in mass murder. However, the court later found him unfit [JURIST report] to stand trial. Last June US officials arrested [JURIST report] 89-year-old Johann Breyer on charges that he was a Nazi SS guard at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during World War II after German authorities issued an arrest warrant and sought extradition.