The oldest accused of Nazi crimes to appear in court again denied on Monday January 27, the penultimate day of his trial, having served as a guard at a German concentration camp during the Second World War.
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Josef Schütz, 101, whose trial began in October, is being prosecuted for “
complicity
” in the murder of 3,518 prisoners when he operated, according to the prosecution, between 1942 and 1945 in the Sachsenhausen camp, north of Berlin .
The prosecution requested in May five years of imprisonment against this German who had never been worried after the war.
“
I don't know why I'm here.
I tell the truth.
I have nothing to do with the police or the army, everything that has been said is false
“Said the accused, tremolos in his voice.
Dressed in a gray shirt and pajama bottoms, he entered the courtroom in Brandenburg-sur-la-Havel, 70 kilometers west of Berlin, in a wheelchair.
Previously, he had listened without reacting to the argument of his lawyer who, unsurprisingly, asked for his acquittal.
"
At 101, he is the oldest defendant in German history, so I demand his acquittal
," said master Stefan Waterkamp.
“
We don't have a photo of him in an SS uniform
” but only have “
signs
” of his possible activity in Sachsenhausen, he said.
“
As of 1973, the investigators had in possession of the elements on him but they did not prosecute him.
At the time, witnesses could have been heard, now they are all dead or no longer able to speak
,” he added.
"
The danger of this court would be to try to make up for the errors of the previous generation of judges
", launched Stefan Waterkamp.
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“
This person is very old, he does not want to remember.
It is a form of defence.
But it's not very serious because for me there is no question of putting a centenarian in prison
", reacted to AFP Antoine Grumbach, 80, whose father, engaged in the resistance in France, is died at Sachsenhausen.
"
The most important thing is the fact that we were able to collect and show to the general public all the documents which prove that Sachsenhausen was an experimental extermination camp: all the cruellest methods were invented there and then exported
", he added.
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