A 95-year-old man has been charged with more than 36,000 counts of accessory to murder for his role as a Nazi concentration camp guard by prosecutors in Germany.
The historical offences allegedly took place at the Mauthausen camp in Austria towards the end Second World War between the summer of 1944 and spring of 1945, according to the Berlin public prosecutor’s office.
The man – identified only as Hans H. – is alleged to have been part of a SS unit at the death camp.
The prosecutor’s office said the suspect was “aware of all the killing methods as well as the disastrous living conditions of the incarcerated people at the camp”.
The statement also accused Hans H. of providing “support or at least help make easier the many thousands of deaths carried out by the main perpetrator.”
At least 36,223 people were killed at the Mauthausen camp during the period in question.
“The killings were mostly carried out through gassing, but also through “death bath actions”, injections and shootings, as well as through starvation and freezing,” said the prosecutor’s office.
Overall, around 95,000 people are believed to have died in the Mauthausen camp during the war – including 14,000 Jews, Soviet prisoners of war and Spaniards who had fought against General Franco.
As a SS Rottenfuehrer, roughly equivalent to corporal, Hans H. is accused of serving both in the outer perimeter of the camp and inside, as well as guarding prisoner work details at a nearby quarry.
Recent legal precedent in Germany holds that former Nazi camp guards can be charged with accessory to murder even if there is no evidence they participated in a specific killing.
The argument has been upheld by the country’s highest criminal court and has led to a string of prosecutions, including the ongoing case of 94-year-old former SS guard Johann Rehbogen, who is being tried on hundreds of counts of accessory to murder.
A court must review the charges and determine if Hans H. is fit to stand trial.
