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A 101-year-old man who worked as a guard at a Nazi concentration camp on Monday denied allegations that he was complicit in committing war crimes during the Holocaust as the trial draws to a close in Germany.
Josef Schuetz, the oldest person on trial for the Nazi crimes of World War II, is accused of involvement in the killing of 3,518 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, between 1942 and 1945.
The pensioner, who lives in the state of Brandenburg, has pleaded not guilty throughout the trial, saying he did “absolutely nothing” and was unaware of the macabre crimes taking place in the concentration camp.
“I do not know why they are here,” he said again at the close of the process, in a trembling voice.
Dressed in a gray T-shirt and sitting in a wheelchair, Schuetz insisted that he had nothing to do with the crimes mentioned and that he was “telling the truth”.
Prosecutors say he “intentionally and knowingly” participated in the crimes and sought a five-year sentence for the 101-year-old.
But Schuetz’s lawyer, Stefan Waterkamp, said that while there was no photo of him wearing the SS uniform, the case was based on “suggestions” of his possible involvement.
“Since 1973, prosecutors had information about him but did not investigate him. “At that time, witnesses could be heard, but now they are all dead and can not speak,” said Waterkamp.
“It would be unacceptable for the court to try to correct the” mistakes of the previous generation of judges, “the lawyer said.
Antoine Grumbach, 80, whose father died in Sachsenhausen, told AFP that Schuetz “does not want to be remembered”, calling it “a form of protection”.
The trial is not just about jailing a 101-year-old, he said. Evidence was presented during the hearings that Sachsenhausen was an experimental extermination camp.
“All the crueler ways were invented there and then exported to other camps,” Grumbach said.
The decision is expected to be given on Tuesday, June 28./ Radio Free Europe
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