A 105 year old man is being investigated in Germany over crimes allegedly committed at a Nazi prison camp during the Second World War.
Prosecutors in Dortmund confirmed on Thursday that the man is suspected to have been a guard at Stalag 326, a prisoner of war camp in Senne, western Germany.
According to the Dortmund public prosecutor’s office, he is accused of helping to carry out multiple murders while working at the camp.
The probe started after a tip was given to Germany’s central office that investigates Nazi crimes in Ludwigsburg. The file was later moved to Dortmund in February this year.
At first, two ex guards from the same camp were under investigation, but one of them has now died at the age of 99.
Authorities have not released any more information about the suspects.
Stalag 326 VI K operated from 1941 until it was freed by US soldiers in April 1945. It was one of the largest camps of its kind, with over 180,000 Soviet prisoners passing through it. Many suffered from hunger, disease, forced labour and terrible living conditions. Estimates say between 15,000 and 70,000 prisoners died there.
This case shows how German prosecutors are still pursuing Nazi-era cases more than eight decades after the war ended, even as the suspects are now over 100 years old.
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