95-year-old charged as accessory to 36,000 deaths at Nazi concentration camp

Authored by thehill.com and submitted by missmegz1492

Prosecutors in Germany reportedly charged a 95-year-old alleged former guard at a Nazi death camp with more than 36,000 counts of accessory to murder.

CBS News reports that Hans Werner H., whose last name was not publicly released by police, was charged Friday and accused of serving as a guard at the Mauthausen concentration camp in northern Austria from 1944-1945.

More than 95,000 people including 14,000 Jews, are believed to have been executed at the Mauthausen camp alone, part of millions that died during the years of the Holocaust in German-occupied Europe. The 95-year-old suspect was not charged with any specific killings related to the camp's operation.

"With his service as a guard he aided or at least made easier the killing of many thousands of inmates," Berlin prosecutor Martin Steltner told CBS News.

Hans Werner was accused in the court filings of having "been aware that a large number of people were killed...and that the victims could have only been killed with such regularity if they were being guarded by people such as himself."

Roughly the equivalent of a corporal during the war according to CBS, the suspect is alleged to have served as a guard both inside and outside the camp, as well as having run prisoner details at a nearby quarry.

His indictment in Germany comes several months after the U.S. deported Jakiw Palij, a 95-year-old man who was believed to be the last suspect of Nazi war crimes living in the U.S.

"To protect the promise of freedom for Holocaust survivors and their families, President Trump prioritized the removal of Palij," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the time.

Josvan135 on November 25th, 2018 at 10:19 UTC »

One of my favorite quotes of all time was from Dwight d Eisenhower on how the death camps affected him and what he chose to do.

“I visited every nook and cranny of the camp because I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify at first hand about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief or assumption that `the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda.’

autotldr on November 25th, 2018 at 02:01 UTC »

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 72%. (I'm a bot)

Prosecutors in Germany reportedly charged a 95-year-old alleged former guard at a Nazi death camp with more than 36,000 counts of accessory to murder.

CBS News reports that Hans Werner H., whose last name was not publicly released by police, was charged Friday and accused of serving as a guard at the Mauthausen concentration camp in northern Austria from 1944-1945.

The 95-year-old suspect was not charged with any specific killings related to the camp's operation.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: guard#1 camp#2 charged#3 95-year-old#4 killed#5

BillionTonsHyperbole on November 25th, 2018 at 01:59 UTC »

Mark it well: these atrocities are quickly passing from living memory. If there are any survivors in your family or community, take the time to speak with them and hear their stories now. Do it for posterity, and document it.