A German court delivered a verdict on Tuesday in a case tied to the Stutthof concentration camp, where a foreign national received two years of probation. The court’s ruling followed the prosecutor’s push for a two-year probation sentence, while the defense had urged acquittal. [NDR]
The Itzehoe County Court issued its decision after a hearing that stretched over forty days. Irmgard Furchner, then 97 years old, faced charges of complicity in more than ten thousand murders, with additional charges linking her to five attempted killings. The case was reported by the regional public broadcaster. [NDR]
During the proceedings, the court accumulated a substantial dossier, roughly 3,600 pages, and a USB drive storing around two thousand investigative reports was introduced as part of the evidence. [NDR]
In total, fourteen witnesses testified, eight of whom survived, recounting their experiences at the Stutthof concentration camp. [NDR]
The trial, which had initial delays, began on October 19 of the previous year after a postponement. It faced interruptions due to the defendant’s illness between March and April, raising concerns among survivors and their lawyers about whether the proceedings would resume. The court eventually restarted the process on April 26. [NDR]
From June 1943 to April 1945, the defendant, aged eighteen to nineteen at the time, served as a civilian employee at the camp’s command headquarters in Stutthof, near the Gdansk area in present-day Poland. He worked as a stenographer and typist, assisting the camp leadership through his administrative duties. [NDR]
The prosecution relied on a law governing the criminal liability of minors, arguing that it should apply up to age twenty-one because of the defendant’s youth at the time of the offenses. [NDR]
The case contends that the defendant contributed to the operation of the camp by performing office work and providing significant support to the camp commander and his deputies through voluntary tasks. [NDR]
Between 1939 and the camp’s closure, thousands of prisoners at Stutthof died due to disease, malnutrition, and harsh conditions. The historical record shows that the camp held tens of thousands of prisoners during its operation in the region that is now part of Poland. [NDR]
Prisoners were killed in several ways, including the use of gas chambers and execution by shooting. In one grim episode, a large number of inmates were killed in a concealed location near the crematorium, and a further group died in sealed train cars. The full scale of the atrocity is a stark reminder of the brutalities perpetrated during World War II. [NDR]