Europe

Man charged with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder

93-year-old has admitted to serving as SS guard at Nazis’ Auschwitz camp

The main gate of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz I, near Oswiecim, Poland, which was liberated by the Russians during the second World War. The sign over the gate reads: “Arbeit macht frei” (Work makes free – or work liberates). Photograph: AP
The main gate of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz I, near Oswiecim, Poland, which was liberated by the Russians during the second World War. The sign over the gate reads: “Arbeit macht frei” (Work makes free – or work liberates). Photograph: AP
Tue Dec 16 2014 - 12:23

A 93-year-old man, charged with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder for serving as an SS guard at the Nazis’ Auschwitz death camp, will go on trial early next year, a German court has decided.

The Lueneburg state court said its review of the prosecution's case against Oskar Groening determined there was enough evidence to proceed with the trial.

The starting date has not been announced.

Groening has openly talked in interviews about his time as a guard and says he witnessed atrocities, but did not commit any crimes himself.

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Prosecutors say Groening helped the Nazi regime benefit economically and supported systematic killings in his job by dealing with the belongings stolen from camp victims.

Nearly 50 Holocaust survivors or victims’ families have joined the case as co-plaintiffs.