Josef Schütz

Josef Schütz given five-year jail sentence in Germany but is unlikely to be put behind bars.

Citing a ruling by the federal court of justice in Karlsruhe, the lawyer said working as a security guard at a concentration camp alone should not suffice for a guilty verdict. Schütz had said he did “absolutely nothing” and was not aware of the crimes being carried out at the camp. Tens of thousands of inmates were murdered or died from forced labour, medical experiments, hunger or disease before the camp was liberated by Soviet troops, according to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum.

Josef Schütz was given a five-year jail term on Tuesday for complicity in the murder of 3518 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp, north of Berlin, ...

"Everything is torn apart" in my head, he even said at the opening of the hearing before being interrupted by his lawyer. After a long period of reluctance to try all the perpetrators of Nazi crimes, Germany has been expanding its investigations over the past decade. He swore in court that he never wore a German uniform, but overalls. Thus, every camp guard actively participated in the killings." "Anyone who wanted to flee the camp was shot. The president of the court in Brandenburg-Havel told Schütz he was "active for about three years in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where you were an accomplice to the mass murders".

A 101-year-old German man was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday after being convicted of aiding thousands of deaths as a guard in a Nazi ...

Historical records, however, identified him by name and say he was assigned to a notorious SS paramilitary force between 1942 and 1945 at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The Sachsenhausen camp held about 200,000 prisoners during its existence between 1936 and its liberation by the Soviet army in 1945. Schutz denied that he ever wore a Nazi uniform and said he spent his years during the war working on a farm.

Josef Schütz, 101, was found guilty of complicity in the mass murder of 3,518 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, north of Berlin, between 1942 ...

He was also accused of keeping prisoners in inhumane conditions. According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the camp was opened in 1936 and initially held political prisoners. By your presence, you supported” these acts, he told the accused, according to a report by Euronews and AFP. “Anyone who wanted to flee the camp was shot. His recollections of the past were sometimes contradictory, according to news reports. “Even after such a long time they can be held accountable for their deeds: That is the important message that comes from today’s verdict.” The minimum sentence for complicity in murder would have been three years, the reports said.