97-year-old Nazi grandmother convicted of complicity in massacre of 10,000 people

A German court today sentenced a 97-year-old Nazi grandmother who was a secretary at the Stutthof concentration camp on Polish territory to two years in prison. convicting her of complicity in the murder of more than 10,500 prisoners.

The Provincial Court of Itzehoe thus responds to the prosecutor’s request for two years of probation for the ninety-year-old, while the defense had asked for her acquittal.

After a total of 40 days of trial, the judge sentenced the defendant Irmgard Furchner97, for complicity in the murder of more than 10,505 victims as well as for complicity in the attempted murder of five others, according to regional public channel NDR.

In about 14 months, the trial file has grown to about 3,600 pages, to which is added a USB memory with about two thousand interrogation reports.

Fourteen witnesses gave statements, eight of whom survived the Stutthof concentration camp.

The trial, the start of which was postponed after the defendant went into hiding, finally began on October 19 last year.

Between March and April it was interrupted due to illness of the defendant and both the survivors and their lawyers feared that the 90-year-old would never return to court; however, he recovered and the trial, the first of its kind against a civilian employee, could be resumed on April 26.

The defendant worked between June 1943 and April 1945, between the ages of 18 and 19, as a civilian employee as a stenographer and typist for the command in the Stutthof Nazi camp near Gdansk, Poland.

Due to his young age, the prosecutor asked for a conviction under the law regulating the criminal liability of minors which, depending on the case, applies until the defendant turns 21 years of age.

The prosecution expressed the belief that with its paperwork, Furchner vcontributed to ensure the functioning of the camp and that with his voluntary work constituted an important support for the camp commander and his assistants.

In the Stutthof concentration camp, some 65,000 prisoners, including many Jews, died during World War II, mainly due to weakness and disease.

At least 200 prisoners were killed with Cyclone B in the gas chamber and inside a closed railway carriage, and another 30 with a shot in the back of the head in an undisclosed location located in the crematorium.