Israel Matzav

Former Auschwitz guard living in Israel

Germany has tracked down 49 alleged Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp guards, at least 30 of which it plans to place on trial. One of those who no longer lives in Germany allegedly lives in Israel.

Germany's central office for investigating Nazi war crimes announced Tuesday that it was recommending the prosecution of 30 alleged former guards at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp for being accessories to murder, including one Israeli resident, according to a report in the German daily Der Spiegel.

The announcement was made by Kurt Schrimm, head of the special prosecutors' office in Ludwigsburg, which focuses on German crimes during World War II.

In the spring, according to the report, Schrimm announced that his office had launched a major push to bring former camp guards to justice. Tuesday's recommendation relates only to those who could be identified as having worked at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, in southern Poland. Additional investigations by Schrimm's office will focus on those who may have worked at other death camps, starting with Majdanek, Der Spiegel reported.

Schrimm told reporters on Tuesday that it remained unclear whether charges could be pressed in all cases.

"I want to warn against excessive expectations," he said. "We don't know anything about the health of those in question. It could be that only a few can really be charged."

Initially, Schrimm's office was able to identify 49 suspected former Auschwitz-Birkenau guards. Nine of them, however, have died in the meantime. Another seven live overseas -- he specifically mentioned Austria, Brazil, Croatia, the U.S., Poland and Israel -- and are still under investigation. Two could not be found and a final case has already been sent to prosecutors, reported Der Spiegel.

The article goes on to say that the suspects were all born between 1916-26, which makes the youngest one 87-years old. Sounds like too little, too late to me. I'd bet on them all - or nearly all - being dead long before they come to trial.

Labels: Auschwitz, Holocaust

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:32 AM