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THE GERMAN OFFICE investigating Nazi war crimes said today it would send files on 30 former Auschwitz death camp personnel to state prosecutors with a recommendation to pursue charges.
Chief investigator Kurt Schrimm told reporters that the suspects were former Auschwitz guards now aged up to 97 and would face possible charges of accessory to murder.
“The cases will be handed over to the respective public prosecutor’s offices,” Schrimm said.
People’s shoes at Auschwitz. Pic: Sojka Libor/Czech News Agency/PA Images
Schrimm’s Central Office for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in the southwestern city of Ludwigsburg has carried out more than 7,000 probes but has no powers to charge suspects itself.
Instead it sends case files to regional prosecutors who then decide whether to pursue probes against suspects, who must also be judged fit to stand trial by the courts.
Investigation
The investigative office, set up in 1958, said it had initially identified 49 former guards at the camp in what was Nazi-occupied Poland who were still alive but nine had since died.
Thirty live in Germany and will now be subject to criminal investigation. Another seven live abroad and the investigation against them in Ludwigsburg is still ongoing.
Two people could not be found, the office said, and one had already been under investigation in the southern city of Stuttgart.
More than 6,000 SS personnel served at Auschwitz, where about 1.1 million Jews, Roma and Sinti and members of other persecuted groups died in gas chambers or of forced labour, sickness and starvation.
Auschwitz concentration camp, Poland. Pic: Sojka Libor/Czech News Agency/PA Images
For more than 60 years German courts only prosecuted Nazi war criminals if evidence showed they had personally committed atrocities, but since a 2011 landmark case all former camp guards can be tried.
In that year a Munich court sentenced John Demjanjuk to five years in prison for complicity in the extermination of more than 28,000 Jews at the Sobibor camp, where he had served as a guard.
The announcement from Ludwigsburg came a day after the start of a trial in Germany of a 92-year-old former SS officer for the murder of a Dutch resistance fighter nearly 70 years ago.
As the proceedings opened in the western town of Hagen, Dutch-born Siert Bruins, who is a German national, was deemed fit enough for the trial to sit for up to three hours a day.
He faces a life sentence if found guilty.
Since the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946, around 106,000 German or foreign-born Nazi soldiers have been accused of war crimes.
Having visited two of the camps, it is never to late to bring these vile creatures to justice.
Maybe the Poles would allow the trials to take place at Auschwitz.
The Hague would be better, crimes against humanity.
I think the Germans want to retain jurisdiction. Which is good.
Yeah they’ve had a great history of prosecuting ex Nazi/SS members.
Werejammin, I am not anti Jewish, and I regret that words I used have come across as such. Some of the greatest men and women that history has produced in fields of Science, medicine , psychology, and other arts have been Jewish , all of whom I admire with the greatest respect. Those that seem to be at the forefront or spokes-people of agencies seeking justice for victims of the holocaust are also those who support the Israeli policy of the genocide of the Palistinian people. This is the hypocracy which angers me.
There is no genocide of Palestinians, except in the minds of the BDS and some Islamic governments who would love to wipe Israel from the map. The hypocrisy is all on their side. Any mention from them about Egypt filling in all the tunnels to Gaza, closing the border and creating a buffer zone. No, not a word. Yet Israel supplies Gaza with thousands of tonnes of materials each week. Any mention of the Palestinian camps in Syria which are under constant attack? Nope, you won’t see any flotillas heading there where they would be sunk on sight. Arabs mingle freely in Israel, are in the Parliament, there was even an Arab judge heading the trial of the former president yet the BDS still try to claim apartheid even though it’s been condemned by numerous South Africans who have suffered real apartheid. At the border into Palestinian areas there are warnings to Israelis that they may not enter, they would likely be murdered if they did. Now that is hypocrisy.
Back on topic it doesn’t matter who is pushing for justice, these psychopaths murdered jew, gay, roma with no regrets. No matter what age they should have to face court for their crimes.
I absolutely agree with you “werejammin” except nobody is chasing the Jews who are committing genocide on the Palistinian people right NOW. The Jews are playing the holocaust card at every instance for their own selfish reasons and very little to do with actual justice. While the Jewish State murders Palistinian people on a daily basis, they should all keep their crocodile tears to themselves. And of course as predicted, I’ve just been accused of being anti-Jewish for pointing out the hypocrisy of those who keep playing the holocaust card ad nauseam for their own selfish financial/Political advancement.
Are you for real?
Referring to the ciminality of the Netentyahu government in Israel as ‘the Jews’ makes as much sense as referring to the criminality of the Mugabe government as ‘the Blacks’. I suggest you cop yourself on, because you are most certainly coming across as anti-Jewish, whether intentionally or not.
So you attack Jews ,glorify the Holocaust,pick only the only Jewish Minister we have and then like so many people who claim it’s all about the Palestinians. You can’t even SPELL their nationality correctly.
Selfish political advancement ?? Says a lot about your warped mindset.
Tristan, this is a article about German prosecutors going after Germans who committed war crimes. It’s you who is playing the race card by going after Israel.
That’s the problem with all you pro Israeli people all anyone needs to do is mention the word “Jew”and you open yourself for you lot to say your anti Jewish.why can’t we criticise israel without being accused of being against Jews?its very strange
Edward the article is about the Holocaust not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Claiming the Journal is run by Zionists and blah blah naturally comes off as anti-Semitic. The other day a commenter on here was ranting about how “negroes” and Jews are the “biggest” racists. An anti-Israel activist last week defended his supporters chanting “kill the Jews”. He claimed its not to be taken “literal”….And they claim they have nothing against Jews. When Ian Paisley claims the “Romanists” control the media. He’s not anti-Catholic and anti-Irish??? You’re nutcase friend also denied the Holocaust happened.
What people tend to not realise is that besides the 6 million people of the Jewish faith almost 6 million more poor souls perished during the Holocaust. The horrible destruction of people began in October 1939 with T4 Aktion, the murder of approx. 200,000 mentally and physically handicapped people, who were classed as a burden on German society, the list was then expanded as deemed necessary to include Jews, Slavs, Roma, Shinti, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Homosexuals, Communist Commissars, Russian POW’s, Political prisoners, Freemasons, and any others deemed undesirable at a whim until the final total was almost 12 million.
While I have sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian people I find it disgusting that certain neo-nazi and some pro Palestinian groups think that they can use these crimes as some kind of political football to score points against the current Israel government and its settlement policies.
The German people are currently going through a process of facing up to and dealing with the painful event of their history post WW1 that includes the events of WW2, Nazism, Communism and Re-unification and has nothing to do with current events in the Middle East.
Who’s my nutcase friend?are you suggesting I’m anti Semitic?you don’t know noting about me to be honest I hate any murderers of any race or religion.the point I was trying to make was if you don’t like the way israel is being run as a country I’m I anti Jewish?if I don’t like the way Syria is being run am I anti muslim?or Ireland am I anti catholic?it seems to me from previous comments on the journal that if you say something about Israel not Jews your automatically classed as a jew hater.in regards to that person you said made racist comments about other races I did not see he’s comments so I can’t comment on it but if he did make them comments he should be removed from the journal.
You should check out the KKK’s website. You’re comments along with Tristan’s are identical to what they say. They are pro-Hamas naturally. I live in the Southern US. They also burn Israeli flags at their rallies and wave Palestinian flags.
@Tristan Alvin H. Rosenfeld notes that today’s anti-Semitism has transcended its old meaning so today:
“It is now globalised, leaping effortlessly across borders; is promoting Jews as poisoners (a stereotype of old according to Rosenfeld), accused of contaminating the atmosphere itself (instead of water wells) or targeting DNA; is rising among Muslims, attributing this Muslim anger towards Israel for its treatment of Palestinians and this anger being rooted in Muslim culture; and, the most impassioned changes leveled against the Jews involves vicious accusations against the Jewish state… anti-Zionism, in fact, is the form that much of today’s anti-Semitism takes, so much that some now see earlier attempts to rid the world of Jews finding a parallel in present-day desires to rid the world of a Jewish state” (2006: p. 7-8).
Rosenfeld also points out that compared to the truly horrendous crimes committed by other nation-states – think Sudan, Cambodia, Slobadan Milosevic’s Serbia, or Augusto Pinochet’s Chile – Israel’s record actually looks relatively good (2006: p 11)
The German people are currently going through a process of facing up to and dealing with the painful event of their history post WW1 that includes the events of WW2, Nazism, Communism and Re-unification and has nothing to do with current events in the Middle East.
More like being reminded at every available opportunity by the rest of the world about it.
This operation last chance is hopefully the last of it,that most of that generation will have died off from old age or will be dead soon from the same cause.Maybe then the Germans can start to look at this history abit more closely and not be branded Neo nazi revisionists at every turn too.
Simon
Are you a David Irving fan then?
Excellent news. Even if it took the German Justice system 68 years to take action
Round ‘em up and gas them all…
What send them to Syria?
How about an article on mary elmed, the irish lady who saved jews and others from the camps. She was recently honoured as’righteous’ by yad vashem, the only irish person to receive this honour.
Interested to read more, but can’t find any mention of her on the Yad Vashem list of righteous. Do you have a link?
Ken, Monsignor Hugh O`Flaherty was also honoured as Righteous Among the Nations.
Actually no he wasn’t, their is no concrete evidence he saved jewish lives unfortunately just escaped pows.
Found an IT article on Mary Elmes. Interesting lady.
Would have been easier to find if you’d spelt her name right though :-P
This is ridiculous…. If this is the cast then every soldier in a war should face charges
Tony Blair and George Bush should face charges. War criminals
Visited this place few years ago. Wouldn’t go back again as once was enough for me.
Never too late to be held accountable. Here’s hoping they get a fair trial and if found guilty get suitable punishment. They will be dealt with in a civilised and kind manner unless those who were sent to their deaths in the gas chambers.
Sorry unlike those they sent to the gas chamber .
Life sentences for the lot of them. 18 months to think about what they’ve done.
Does this really require a trial with the years of appeals etc? Surely if you can prove they were guards at the camp then by definition they are guilty at least of accessory to mass murder. Lock em up before they get a chance to die of natural causes.
Visited Auschwitz and Birkenau. Anyone visiting Krakow should do these trips.
As for the soldiers. We all know what should be done to them.
Indeed and go with a very open mind too…
Finally ! But still loads of other war criminals enjoying free life.
Gas the evil ba5tards
That’s just a stupid comment will that bring back the six million innocent souls?
Could I ask this question without seeming to deny what happened in Auschwitz. 30 people are to be investigated for being camp personnel. How many of these former camp personnel were simply stationed there as members of the German army. I ask this as it would appear that from the article that merely being camp personnel equals guilty of crimes. Perhaps there were also just witnesses to the dreadful things that occurred there.
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