Trial of 100-year-old ex-Nazi guard begins

Schuetz is accused of assisting in murder of 3,518 prisoners

A100-year-old former concentration camp guard who became the oldest person to be tried for Nazi-era crimes in Germany will not speak about his time at the site, his lawyer said at the trial opening on yesterday.

Josef Schuetz is accused of “knowingly and willingly” assisting in the murder of 3,518 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, between 1942 and 1945.

Allegations include aiding and abetting the “execution by firing squad of Soviet prisoners of war in 1942” and the murder of prisoners “using the poisonous gas Zyklon B”.

However, Schuetz “will not speak, but will only provide information about his personal situation” at the trial, his lawyer Stefan Waterkamp, said.

Antoine Grumbach, 79, whose father was killed at the camp, said he wanted the accused to acknowledge “the possibility of guilt”.

However, Schuetz “will not speak, but will only provide information about his personal situation” at the trial, his lawyer Stefan Waterkamp, said.

‘Not made of stone’

“A man is not made of stone, not a machine,” he said. “Maybe he will still say something.”

Despite his advanced age, a medical assessment in August found Schuetz fit to stand trial, although his hearings are limited to a couple of hours a day.