Ex-Nazi implicated in 170,000 killings

DORTMUND, Germany – A 93-year-old former Nazi recently charged in Germany is thought to have facilitated the killing of more than 170,000 people at the Auschwitz death camp over about 18 months, court documents filed by prosecutors indicated Monday.

A court in the North-Rhine Westphalian town of Detmold heard that the man, who was charged last week, was responsible for guarding prisoners and selecting individuals for the gas chambers from January 1943 to June 1944.

During this time, the Nazi party was implementing the so-called final solution to systemically exterminate the Jewish population in occupied Europe.

Critical in determining the defendant’s degree of culpability was the fact that the 93-year-old had been fully aware of Auschwitz procedures when it came to murdering Jews, prosecutors told the court.

The man acknowledges his presence at the death camp during the time frame in question but denies involvement in genocide.