Germany probes 105-year-old over Nazi camp crimes

German prosecutors are investigating a 105-year-old man over allegations that he was an accessory to multiple murders at a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp during World War Two.

According to the BBC on Thursday, the suspect is alleged to have served as a guard at Stalag 326 VI K in Senne, north-western Germany.

Dortmund public prosecutor Sonja Frodermann said a similar investigation had also been conducted against another former guard at the camp. The second suspect died several months ago at the age of 99.

No further details about the two former guards have been released.

The investigations highlight the challenges facing German prosecutors as they continue to pursue alleged Nazi-era crimes more than 80 years after the end of World War Two, with most surviving suspects now at an advanced age.

Stalag 326 was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in Nazi Germany. According to the camp’s memorial site, between 180,000 and 200,000 Soviet prisoners of war were registered there between 1941 and 1945.

Many prisoners were subjected to forced labour in the surrounding region and endured severe malnutrition and poor living conditions. Tens of thousands of Soviet prisoners are believed to have died at the camp and are buried in the area.

Prisoners from France, Poland, Serbia and Belgium were also held at Stalag 326.

More than 5.3 million soldiers from the Soviet Red Army were captured by Germany during World War Two, with about half estimated to have died in captivity.

German law has had no statute of limitations for murder or accessory to murder since 1979, allowing prosecutors to pursue Nazi-era crimes decades after they were committed.

However, bringing suspects to trial has become increasingly difficult because of their age and declining health.

Four years ago, 101-year-old former concentration camp guard Josef Schütz was sentenced to five years in prison for complicity in the murder of more than 3,500 prisoners at Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Schütz never served his sentence and died in 2023 while appealing his conviction.

A former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp was also convicted in 2022 of aiding and abetting murder and received a suspended sentence. She died last year at the age of 99.

Nazi crime investigations are handled by public prosecutors in Dortmund, while the Central Office for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Ludwigsburg initially examines cases and supports investigations.