German court convicts former Auschwitz guard

BERLIN 

A former SS guard at Auschwitz was jailed on Wednesday for four years over his involvement in the murder of 300,000 Jews at the death camp, local media reported.

Oskar Groening, known as the “Bookkeeper of Auschwitz”, was convicted of complicity in the deaths of those gassed shortly after they arrived at the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland between May and June 1944, DPA news agency said.

The 94-year-old admitted his “moral guilt” during his trial in Luneberg, Lower Saxony, but denied any direct role in the killings, saying his job was to collect and log valuables from the victims’ luggage.

Chief Judge Franz Kompisch dismissed Groening’s attempt to downplay his and said Groening, who volunteered for the SS in 1940 from the Hitler Youth, had deliberately chosen to stay at the camp rather than volunteering for combat.

“It was your decision,” Kompisch said in passing sentence. “I don't want to describe you as a coward but you chose a more secure desk job.”

The judge said Nazi indoctrination could not be considered as a mitigating factor, saying the era was “not without free will”.

It is uncertain whether Groening will serve any prison time due to his age and frail health. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of three-and-a-half years.

Hans Holtermann, lawyer of Groeining, told journalists that they may appeal the verdict, but would first discuss further steps with the defendant.

Earlier, Groening’s lawyer demanded his acquittal due to his extreme old age and poor health.)

Groening did not deny his role at the camp and had not previously been prosecuted due to a lack of proof of his direct involvement in the killings.

However, a 2011 ruling paved the way for prosecuting Nazi guards not directly linked to mass murder.

More than a million people, mostly Jews from across Europe, were killed at the huge Auschwitz-Birkenau complex between 1940 and 1945.