The 100-year-old accused of ex-security at Sachsenhausen concentration camp protests his innocence in the process of the mass killing of camp inmates.
The co-plaintiffs appeal to the defendant to break his silence.
Brandenburg / Havel - In the process of the mass killing of inmates in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the defendant denied the charges made by the prosecution. "I'm not in Sachsenhausen at all, I'm innocent because I don't even know it," said the 100-year-old on Friday on the second day of the trial in Brandenburg / Havel. According to the indictment, between 1942 and 1945 he assisted in the murder of several thousand people as a security guard for the SS.
Previously, after questioning the presiding judge Udo Lechtermann, the man described his childhood and youth in Lithuania and his later life in Germany after his release from Soviet captivity.
The defendant's lawyer refused to allow questions about the time during the Second World War.
Lawyer Stefan Waterkamp had already stated on the first day of the hearing on Thursday that his client would not comment on the allegations.
According to the indictment, there are at least 3,518 cases of assisted murder in what was then Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin.
For organizational reasons, the proceedings before the Neuruppin Regional Court are being conducted in a sports hall in Brandenburg / Havel.
During the trial, two witnesses from France and the Netherlands described how their fathers had been murdered as resistance fighters in Sachsenhausen. Christoffel Heijer from Leidschendam in the Netherlands then turned to the defendant directly. "I could understand that you - driven by fear - took part in the Nazi extermination system," said Heijer. "But were you able to sleep peacefully after the war, after you put so much on your conscience?" He wanted the accused to be convicted, said Heijer.
The co-plaintiff's attorney Mehmet Daimagüler criticized in a statement that the legal processing of the Nazi crimes happened so late. "Why did it take more than 70 years for Antoine Grumbrach to report on the terrible death of his father?" He asked, looking at the French co-plaintiff. The horror, the trauma and the pain continue to affect the relatives to this day, he warned. "We have to look in the mirror and look into the abyss - at the risk of the abyss looking back."
After the day of the trial, the Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Christoph Heubner, appealed to the accused and his defense counsel to break the silence.
It would be important "if the accused would say what he saw and what he was involved in".
Defense attorney Waterkamp affirmed, however, that his client would not comment on the allegations.
"Silence is denied," added Waterkamp.
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According to the court, police officers will be questioned about the investigation against the accused on the next trial days on October 21 and 22.
dpa
