Former SS-Unterscharführer Reinhold Hanning has been sentenced to five years in prison for his part in the mass murder of at least 170,000 people at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland during the second world war.
On Friday a court in Germany sentenced the 94-year-old to five years in prison in what is likely to be the last Holocaust trial in the country.
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RT reports:
Germany’s District Court of Detmold handed down the sentence to Reinhold Hanning on Friday after a four-month trial which heard harrowing testimonies from victims.
“The mass murders were carried out over two and a half years in Auschwitz,” Judge Anke Grudda said at the beginning of the verdict, Der Spiegel reports.
Grudda sentenced Hanning, who was 23 when he started two years of work at the concentration camp in 1942, to five years jail for being an accessory to murder of 170,000 people.
The prosecution had sought six years imprisonment, claiming Hanning had watched over how prisoners were selected for the gas chambers and accused him of being aware of the regular mass shooting of inmates at the camp, as well as the systematic starvation of prisoners.
Meanwhile, the defense demanded his acquittal. “Hanning, at no time, had people killed, beaten or helped [to do it],”said his lawyer John Salmen.
A German court sentenced 94-year-old former German Auschwitz camp SS guard Reinhold Hanning to five years in prison. https://t.co/jGmgweHv6p
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 17, 2016
Auschwitz-bewaker Reinhold Hanning veroordeeld tot vijf jaar cel vr medeplichtigheid aan de moord op 170.000 mensen pic.twitter.com/qyIxo9YGoJ
— Judith vd Hulsbeek (@juhuls) June 17, 2016
Hanning apologized to victims in April, breaking his silence for the first time.
“No-one in my family knew that I worked at Auschwitz. I simply could not talk about it. I was ashamed,” he told the court. “I am sorry.”
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) welcomed Friday’s verdict.
“This trial came decades late, but we welcome the fact that it took place, and we are glad that the court allowed for many Auschwitz survivors to be heard,” WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said.
World Jewish Congress President Lauder welcomes conviction of former #Auschwitz guard by German court – https://t.co/eRLyG1VzcX
— (((WJC))) (@WorldJewishCong) June 17, 2016
“Mr. Hanning got a fair trial, and today’s verdict is very clear: He was complicit in mass murder. He was part of a merciless killing machine. Without the active participation of people like him, Auschwitz would not have been possible.”
Lauder said that Hanning and many of his former comrades were “allowed to lead peaceful lives” for decades after committing atrocities, with many never answering for their crimes.
The verdict had been greatly anticipated as is expected to bring to an end one of the last trials of its kind.
#lastNazitrial survivors await verdict of former SS Reinhold Hanning. pic.twitter.com/wHIzROVrjj
— Craig Robertson (@Craigerphotos) June 17, 2016
#Auschwitzprozess Detmold: Reinhold Hanning erwartet sein Urteil. @tagesschau pic.twitter.com/BS0Gbj9Q9J
— Michael Heussen (@MicHeussen) June 17, 2016
#lastNazitrial Reinhold Hanning awaits verdict as accessory to murder of 100,000 Hungarian Jews at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/s58LnSVwTE
— Michele Mandel (@MandelSun) June 17, 2016
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