Oscar Groening, a former guard at a Nazi death camp, has been sentenced to four years in prison. The now 94-year-old was known as the "bookkeeper of Auschwitz," and is considered an accessory to the killing of at least 300,000 Jewish prisoners at the concentration camp. Though he was not directly involved in the genocide (he did not personally kill anyone, he claims), he has been charged with accessory to murder. He admitted "moral guilt" and admitted he was the one responsible for counting the confiscated belongings from the prisoners, but previously would not admit criminal guilt.
"I saw the gas chambers. I saw the crematoria; I was on the ramp when the selections [for the gas chambers] took place," said the bookkeeper who had witnessed the killing of more than one million European Jews between 1940 and 1945 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, according to BBC News.
An investigation into Groening's role had already taken place in 1978, but was dropped and resumed 37 years later, giving Groening - what the prosecution believed to be - adequate time to prepare a defense. The court sessions started last April but were limited to three hours per day due to the Groening's advanced age and poor health.
"[Prosecutor] Mr. Nestler said that Auschwitz was a place where you could not simply take part. I agree with that. I sincerely regret that I did not recognize that earlier. I am truly sorry. Otherwise I have nothing to add to the defense counsel's statement," said Groening, delivering his apology hearing the verdict, which came one week earlier than expected, the Telegraph reported.
"Mr Groening was never an accessory to the Holocaust, neither with his presence at the ramp nor by transferring and counting money nor with any other actions, at least not in any legal sense," stated Hans Holtermann, one of Groening's defense lawyers, insisting that the court failed to prove that Groening "aided and abetted a crime," because he did not have a hand in the actual murders. The judgment will be read out by a court in Lueneburg on Wednesday, July 16 at 0730 GMT, according to the Business Insider.
For more on Groening's trial, read HNGN's previous article, "Oskar Groening, Nazi Bookkeeper, Testifies in Court," and be sure to check out the "Related Articles" below.
