A US court has issued a deportation order to Germany against a former concentration camp guard, a nonagenarian who has lived in the United States since 1959, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
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An immigration court has ordered the dismissal of Friedrich Karl Berger for " having voluntarily served as an armed guard at a concentration camp where persecution has taken place, " a statement said. The court, located in Memphis, established during two days of trial that he had worked for the concentration camp complex of Neuengamme, south-east of Hamburg, and in particular in one of its external camps near Meppen. The detainees lived there in " excruciating " conditions and were subjected to forced labor " to the point of dying of fatigue, " according to judge Rebecca Holt, quoted in the press release. Friedrich Berger admitted that he had prevented the prisoners from fleeing.
At the end of March 1945, the Nazis, threatened by the advance of the allies, had abandoned the Meppen camp. According to the court, Friedrich Berger had then escorted the prisoners to Neuengamme and 70 of them died during the almost two weeks of transfer. " Berger was part of the oppressive SS machine ," said senior Justice Minister Brian Benczkowski. The decision to expel him " underlines the determination of the ministry to obtain a little justice, even belatedly, for the victims of the Nazi persecutions ".
The American government created in 1979 a program dedicated to the search and the expulsion of the old Nazis installed in the United States. Since then, 67 people have been expelled in this context, said Eli Rosenbaum, one of the program's managers. This dossier " is one of the last, and perhaps the last, " he underlined with reference to the 75 years that have passed since the end of Nazism. " For us prosecutors, time is the worst enemy, " he said, adding that many suspects would die before the end of the proceedings. Friedrich Berger could also die before being expelled, since he has the possibility of appealing to the Supreme Court of the United States, which can suspend his expulsion for several years. The last eviction took place in August 2018 and concerned a 95-year-old former SS guard, Jakiw Palij, who has been living in New York since 1949.
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