A 95-year-old former SS sergeant was charged Monday as an accessory to the murder of 3,681 people at Auschwitz between August and September of 1944, the same period of time Anne Frank and her family were transported to the Nazi death camp. Although not directly involved in the killing, Hubert Zafke is accused by Germany of knowing that the death camp was the site of "mass extermination on an industrial scale." According to the Jewish Chronicle, Hubert Zafke denied the charges, claiming he only cared for wounded soldiers and SS members when he served as a paramedic at Auschwitz between 1943 and 1944. This will be Germany's fourth attempt to try Zafke. The Higher Court of Rostock in northern Germany delayed proceedings when Zafke was deemed unfit to stand trial due to his age and fragile health. The court reversed its decision in December. Proceedings against those accused of committing Nazi crimes are often complicated by the age of the accused and of Holocaust survivors, so this may well be Germany's last such trial.
Paramedic from Auschwitz faces 4th trial in Germany
Hubert Zafke, 95, is charged as accessory to murder of 3,681 people in the Nazi death camp in 1944 • The former SS sergeant was previously deemed unfit to stand trial due to his age • Zafke denies any wrongdoing, claims he cared for wounded soldiers.
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