'I Am Innocent': Ex-Nazi Guard, 100, Tells German Court

A 100-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard, the oldest person charged with complicity in the murder of thousands of detainees, told a German court on Friday that he was not guilty

Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, Oct 8 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Oct, 2021 ) :A 100-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard, the oldest person charged with complicity in the murder of thousands of detainees, told a German court on Friday that he was not guilty.

"I am innocent," said Josef Schuetz, who stands accused of "knowingly and willingly" assisting in the murder of 3,518 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, between 1942 and 1945.

The Sachsenhausen camp detained more than 200,000 people between 1936 and 1945, including Jews, Roma, regime opponents and gay people.

Tens of thousands of inmates died from forced labour, murder, medical experiments, hunger or disease before the camp was liberated by Soviet troops, according to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum.

When asked about his work at the camp, Schuetz insisted that he knew nothing about what happened there and that he did "absolutely nothing".

Allegations against Schuetz include aiding and abetting the "execution by firing squad of Soviet prisoners of war in 1942" and the murder of prisoners "using the poisonous gas Zyklon B".

His claims of innocence sparked an outcry from co-plaintiffs.

Pointing a finger at the accused, co-plaintiff Christoffel Heijer, 84, told the court: "To Mr Schuetz, I would like to say -- I can understand that you were driven by fear of the Nazis to not leave your work, but how did you sleep peacefully for so long? Have you not thought about it? Never felt guilty?"Christoph Heubner, vice-president of the International Auschwitz Committee deplored that "the silence continues".

"This trial has a significant meaning but it would serve society more if the accused were to participate more," he said.