German court says a 93-year-old man has been charged with 170,000 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he served as an SS guard at the Nazis’ Auschwitz death camp in occupied Poland. The defendant, whose name wasn’t disclosed in line with privacy laws, allegedly served in Auschwitz from January 1942 to June 1944, the Detmold state court said in a statement Monday.
The man is alleged to have been assigned to the Auschwitz I camp, but also to have helped supervise new prisoners, largely Jews, as they arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the part of the camp complex where most of its 1.1 million victims were killed, writes The Times of Israel.
Defense attorney Johannes Salmen says his client has acknowledged being at Auschwitz I, but denies being assigned to Birkenau or being involved in killings.
In September, a German court charged another former SS guard at Auschwitz, Oskar Groening, with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder for helping operate the death camp. Groening and the newest defendant are two of some 30 former Auschwitz guards who federal investigators recommended last year that state prosecutors pursue charges against under a new precedent in German law.
