Former secretary in the Stutthof concentration camp sentenced to probation
Created: 12/20/2022, 10:30 am
By: Kevin Goonewardena
In the trial of the former secretary of the Stutthof concentration camp, Irmgard F., the verdict was pronounced today.
It could have been the last Nazi trial in Germany.
Update from December 20, 10:26 a.m .:
The Itzehoe district court found a former secretary in the Stutthof Nazi concentration camp near Gdansk guilty of aiding and abetting murder in more than 10,500 cases.
The criminal court sentenced the 97-year-old Irmgard F. to a two-year suspended sentence on Tuesday.
First report from December 20, 2022 at 9:45 a.m.:
Itzehoe – One of the last proceedings in connection with Nazi war crimes in Germany will end today before the regional court in Itzehoe in Schleswig-Holstein with the verdict of the judges there.
The accused Irmgard F. (97), a former member of the Waffen-SS and secretary in the Stutthof concentration camp, had to answer for more than 11,000 cases of aiding and abetting murder.
Before the trial began, the accused had caused a nationwide sensation with her spectacular escape from a nursing home.
Name of the concentration camp: | Stutthof |
|---|---|
Location: | Stutthof near Gdansk, Poland |
In operation: | September 2, 1939 to May 9, 1945 |
imprisonments and deaths | 110,000 imprisoned, 65,000 died |
Stutthof Concentration Camp: Two years of youth imprisonment on probation demanded
The public prosecutor's office has applied for a youth sentence of two years on probation.
The defense has asked for an acquittal.
Most of the 15 co-plaintiffs have agreed to the public prosecutor's demand for punishment.
However, one of them has spoken out against a suspended sentence.
This is the wrong signal, it said.
Since the trial began on September 30, 2021, the court has heard eight of the 31 joint plaintiffs, mostly via video connection to the USA, Israel or Poland.
They reported on the suffering and mass deaths in Stutthof.
The most important witness, however, was the historical expert Stefan Hördler, who presented his report in 14 sessions.
The defense filed a motion for bias against him, which the court rejected.
The 97-year-old defendant Irmgard F. sits in the courtroom at the beginning of the day of the trial.
The verdict against her is expected today.
© Marcus Brandt / dpa
Irmgard F.: Escape from the beginning of the trial - then silence
The accused did not want to face the proceedings at first.
On the first day of the trial, she disappeared early in the morning from her retirement home in Quickborn (Pinneberg district).
Hours later, the police picked her up on a street in Hamburg.
The court issued an arrest warrant.
The then 96-year-old spent five days in custody and then had to wear an electronic bracelet for weeks.
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In court, Irmgard F. looked sprightly and significantly younger.
Almost to the very end, she did not comment on the allegations, although the co-plaintiffs repeatedly asked her to do so.
She only broke her silence on the 40th day of the hearing: "I'm sorry about everything that happened," she said in her last word.
The 97-year-old added: "I regret that I was in Stutthof at the time.
I can not say more."
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Stutthof concentration camp trial: Possibly the last Nazi trial in Germany
It is possibly the last trial in Germany for Nazi crimes.
At the end of June 2022, the Neuruppin district court had sentenced a former guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp to five years in prison for being an accessory to the murder of thousands of prisoners.
According to the central office in Ludwigsburg (Baden-Württemberg), five further investigations against suspected Nazi perpetrators are pending with the public prosecutor's office, one each with the authorities in Erfurt, Coburg and Hamburg and two in Neuruppin.
The judiciary must investigate these cases because they are aiding and abetting murder.
In 1979, the Bundestag finally lifted the statute of limitations on murder and aiding and abetting murder.
This means that suspects who are fit to stand trial have to face a procedure well into old age.
(with DPA material) *TRANSPARENCY NOTE: This article was updated with new information after publication