Germany has been holding trials of suspects of Nazi crimes, using accessory to murder charges to convict John Demjanjuk, a Sobibor death camp guard, in 2011, and 94-year-old former Auschwitz guard Reinhold Hanning this year.
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The trial, initially set to begin in February, was postponed by presiding Judge Klaus Kabisch on three occasions after a doctor’s assessment found Mr Zafke was not well enough to participate. Already in 2015, the Neubrandenburg court ruled against bringing the case to trial due to Zafke’s health, but a higher court overturned that, saying that the trial could go ahead if the sessions were limited.
The indictment covers one month, from 15 August to 14 September 1944.
A 95-year-old former Auschwitz paramedic has been charged as being an accessory to the murder of at least 3,681 people.
The trial was postponed three times over health concerns of Hubert.
Zafke was examined again Monday morning ahead of the court session, and Kabisch chose to proceed.
Hubert Zafke denies the charges, arguing he treated only wounded soldiers and members of the SS.
Helma was charged [AP/Reuters report] with being an accessory to the murder of 260,000 people while she worked as a radio operator at Auschwitz. Prosecutors say the medic’s unit in which he served placed the Zyklon-B pesticide crystals into the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
He also said it was not necessary for Hubert to have been directly involved in the murders to be prosecuted.
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Zafke’s attorney insists his client was just a medic who did nothing criminal at Auschwitz.
