Em"HH oöcer! .*! c]arged in <erbann

A 95-YEAR old man has been charged with more than 36,000 counts of being an accessory to murder over his alleged role as an SS guard at the Mauthausen ûXWûNW][K]RXW ûKVY O[XV !)$$

The accused, identified as Hans H for legal reasons, is alleged to have “known about the various methods of killing as well as the disastrous living conditions of the imprisoned people”, according to ]QN 2N[URW >[X\Nû^]X[´\ =OORûN

He is also said to have “been aware that a large number of people were killed with these methods and that the victims could have only been killed with such regularity if they were being P^K[MNM Lā YNXYUN \^ûQ K\ QRV\NUO ²

Hans H served as an SS Rottenfuhrer, a rank roughly equivalent to corporal, O[XV UK]N !)$$ XWÿK[M\

Around 190,000 people, including many thousands of Jews and Soviet prisoners of war, were held at Mauthausen, 1^\][RK´\ UK[PN\] ûXWûNW][K]RXW ûKVY

At least 36,223 were killed during the time Hans H is said to have served as an AA P^K[M

The SS evacuated Mauthausen in early May 1945, just before its liberation by ]QN CA 1[Vā 6KW\ 6 R\ Kûû^\NM XO \N[þ ing both on the outer perimeter of the camp and inside, as well as guarding a WNK[Lā Z^K[[ā

The rock quarry at Mauthausen was at the base of a climb known as the ±A]KR[\ XO 3NK]Q² 4ĀQK^\]NM KWM VKU nourished prisoners were often forced to run up the 186 stairs, carry roughlyQNÿW QNKþā LUXûT\ XO \]XWN

Many of those who survived were placed in rows at the edge of a cliff TWXÿW K\ ±BQN >K[KûQ^]R\]\ öKUU² 1] gunpoint, each prisoner would have the option of being shot or pushing ]QN Y[R\XWN[ RW O[XW] XO QRV XOO ]QN ûUROO

Trials held in Germany over the past decade have advanced the legal view that Nazi camp guards can be charged as accessories to murder even without direct evidence of them actively taking YK[] RW TRUURWP\

The Berlin prosecutor’s office said it had determined that Hans H is able to \]KWM ][RKU 1 ûX^[] ÿRUU WXÿ [NþRNÿ ]QN charges and independently determine ÿQN]QN[ QN R\ OR] ]X LN ][RNM