zwiebel
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The trial of 93-year-old Oskar Gröning (Groening) begins today in Lüneburg, (Lueneberg) Germany. Gröning is known as the 'accountant of Auschwitz' (Buchhalter von Auschwitz) because of his role on the selection ramp of the infamous concentration camp, collecting and counting the cash and valuables of newly-arrived victims. He volunteered for the SS at age 20 and is charged with the deaths of 300,000 people. The charges stem from the period May - July 1944 when 425,000 Hungarian Jews were deported there from their homeland. He worked at the camp from 1942 - 44.
In the past, Gröning has spoken openly about his role because he said he wanted the world to be aware what happened. Since his arrest his attorney has advised him to remain silent and the German legal system allows no plea to be entered before a trial begins. 60 survivors or their relatives from Canada, the US and Israel are co-plaintiffs with the prosecution and will give evidence over the coming weeks. They include Judith Kalmann and Hedy Bohm from Toronto.
This, and the pending prosecution of two other men in their nineties, are a last-ditch attempt to obtain justice before those involved in running concentration and death camps pass away from old age. The prosecutions have become possible by the precedent set in the prosecution of guard John Demjanjuk, who died before he could serve his sentence.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ath-camp-guard-oskar-groning-on-trial-germany
http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/world/article19071615.html
German language:
http://m.bild.de/news/inland/auschw...verziehen-40625378,variante=L.bildMobile.html
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/w...al-for-oskar-groening-accountant-of-auschwitz
In the past, Gröning has spoken openly about his role because he said he wanted the world to be aware what happened. Since his arrest his attorney has advised him to remain silent and the German legal system allows no plea to be entered before a trial begins. 60 survivors or their relatives from Canada, the US and Israel are co-plaintiffs with the prosecution and will give evidence over the coming weeks. They include Judith Kalmann and Hedy Bohm from Toronto.
This, and the pending prosecution of two other men in their nineties, are a last-ditch attempt to obtain justice before those involved in running concentration and death camps pass away from old age. The prosecutions have become possible by the precedent set in the prosecution of guard John Demjanjuk, who died before he could serve his sentence.
The Gröning prosecution was set in motion following the conviction of the Ukrainian-born death camp guard John Demjanjuk in 2012 who the judge ruled had been an accessory to murder simply by working at the camp. With a new zeal and based on evidence gathered by the Central Office for National Socialist Crime in Ludwigsburg, prosecutors last year launched a nationwide hunt for remaining camp guards, including cases opened and closed several times over the years due to a lack of political will.
They identified 30 former SS members. Deaths and ill health have prevented the prosecution of most of them, but three of them, including Gröning, are now being brought to justice.
Groening has openly acknowledged serving as an SS non-commissioned officer at Auschwitz, though denies committing any crimes. His memories of the cattle cars packed with Jews arriving at the death camp are just are vivid as Bohm’s.
“A child who was lying there was simply pulled by the legs and chucked into a truck to be driven away,” he told the BBC in an interview 10 years ago. “And when it screamed like a sick chicken, they then bashed it against the edge of the truck so it would shut up.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ath-camp-guard-oskar-groning-on-trial-germany
http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/world/article19071615.html
German language:
http://m.bild.de/news/inland/auschw...verziehen-40625378,variante=L.bildMobile.html
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/w...al-for-oskar-groening-accountant-of-auschwitz