Eight decades after the end of World War II and the fall of Adolf Hitler's Germany, a 100-year-old man is under investigation on the suspicion that he worked as a Nazi camp guard and took part in executions.
The man, according to prosecutors, was involved in killings while working at Stalag VI A, a prisoner-of-war camp in Hemer, Germany, between December 1943 and September 1944. This was first confirmed by the German newspaper Bild on November 22.
The former guard is now 100 years old, but in cases of murder, there is no time limit for prosecution, and he may still face trial. Prosecutors are currently looking at evidence to formally charge him.
Since it's been over eighty years since World War II, there is not much time left to prosecute former Nazi camp guards because most of them are now around 100 years old. Many suspects have already died or are too old or sick to go to trial, which has led to cases being abandoned.
For example, in 2021, prosecutors said a 96-year-old former camp guard could not stand trial. Josef Schuetz, a former guard sentenced to five years in June 2022, died less than a year later at 102.
Another alleged guard from Sachsenhausen camp died before he could face charges for being involved in the deaths of over 3,300 prisoners.
The camp, which operated between 1939 and 1945, reportedly held over 2 lakh inmates, most of whom were Soviet soldiers captured by Nazi Germany.
Around 24,000 people died, either killed by the guards or because of harsh living conditions, like overcrowding, poor hygiene, and diseases like tuberculosis, in such camps.
Most prisoners were from the Soviet Union, but there were people from Poland, France, and Belgium, too.
Before 2011, courts usually required murder proof to convict people for Nazi crimes during World War II, but it all changed after the conviction of John Demjanjuk, a former Sobibor death camp guard.
He was found guilty even though there was no proof he personally killed anyone. He was held responsible because he helped operate the camp.
