Germany sentences 101-year-old ex-Nazi camp guard to 5 years in jail

By Erbil Basay

BERLIN (AA) – A German court on Tuesday sentenced a former Nazi concentration camp guard to five years in prison after convicting him of accessory to murder, according to local media.

The Neuruppin regional court in the northeastern state of Brandenburg sentenced Josef S. over his involvement in the murders of 3,518 people at the Sachsenhausen camp between 1942 and 1945.

Josef S. pleaded innocent throughout the trial which started last October. He claimed that he worked as an agricultural worker near the Pasewalk city of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state during the said period.

However, the prosecution presented documents to prove that Josef S. worked in the concentration camp. While the prosecutors demanded that the defendant be sentenced to five years in prison, the former guard's lawyers wanted his acquittal.

The case, which was interrupted many times due to the 101-year-old defendant's health problems, was held at a gym in the city of Brandenburg, where Josef S. resides.

The 101-year-old man is reportedly the oldest person to have ever faced trial over Nazi crimes and to be found guilty.