A German court has ruled a 100-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard fit to stand trial for aiding and abetting thousands of murders during World War II.
Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp near Berlin, was a site of horrific atrocities during the Holocaust, with tens of thousands of victims suffering forced labor, starvation, and execution.
Gregor Formanek, joined the SS in 1943 as a teenager and worked at the camp until 1945, The Guardian reported. Decades later, a landmark 2011 ruling enabled German courts to prosecute former Nazis for accessory roles in Holocaust crimes.
In May 2024, a lower court declared Formanek unfit for trial due to his health, halting proceedings. However, on November 26, 2024, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court overturned that decision due to insufficient evidence.
Documents link Formanek directly to murders of over 3,3000 prisoners at Sachsenhausen, including Stasi records describing his active role in the killings. Prosecutors now aim to begin his trial in early 2025.
The case has been sent back to the Hanau Regional Court, where a new hearing will assess Formanek's ability to stand trial under revised evaluations.
If deemed fit, he would join the ranks of other centenarians prosecuted for their involvement in Nazi crimes.
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