- Mass murder as a scribe?
How far does the guilt of those who served in the Nazi concentration camps and enabled systematic murder there extend? This question was discussed on Wednesday by the Federal Court of Justice in Leipzig. The 5th Criminal Senate must decide whether a civilian typist in a concentration camp could have been an accomplice to Nazi mass murder in more than 10,000 cases. The verdict is to be announced on August 20. The case is considered the likely last major trial in the reckoning of Nazi mass murders.
The Regional Court of Itzehoe in Schleswig-Holstein had convicted former concentration camp secretary Irmgard F. in December 2022 of accessory to murder in 10,505 cases and in five cases of accessory to attempted murder, sentencing her to a youth sentence of two years' probation. The now 99-year-old was employed as a secretary in the office of the commander of the concentration camp Stutthof near Danzig between June 1943 and April 1945. Her lawyers had appealed against the conviction, which is now being heard in Leipzig.
Defense sees key legal questions unanswered
The lawyers for the woman, Wolf Molkentin and Niklas Weber, saw key legal questions unanswered in the Itzehoe verdict. They raised the question of whether the accused, as a young typist, had really been an accomplice to the acts of the camp commander and other main perpetrators in the concentration camp. Her work had not differed significantly from her previous tasks in a bank and her later job in a clinic. She had performed "neutral acts."
They also cast doubt on whether intent could be proven against her. "Did it really dawn on her what was happening in the camp?", Molkentin asked. The Regional Court of Itzehoe had assumed that Irmgard F. had provided "psychological assistance" through her work. The majority of the correspondence in the concentration camp went through her desk, she served the camp commander loyally and supported him in his actions. Lawyer Molkentin pointed to the strict hierarchies in the camp administration. "No psychological support was needed from below," he said.
Molkentin applied for an acquittal for Irmgard F. or at least a referral of the case back to the Regional Court for a new trial. The 99-year-old was not present in Leipzig - she did not have to be present.
Federal Prosecutor General demands rejection of appeal
The Federal Prosecutor General had requested the oral hearing in Leipzig. The case may offer the BGH the last opportunity to clarify important questions, the representative said. He explained that the guilty verdict of the Regional Court of Itzehoe was justified. Irmgard F. had made herself available for the murder acts in the concentration camp Stutthof through her willingness to serve. He called for the appeal of the accused to be rejected. The lawyers for the remaining 23 co-defendants in the proceedings also demanded this.
At the end of the hearing, the lawyer for an now 96-year-old co-defendant read out a statement by the man, who lives in Israel. The concentration camp Stutthof was a monstrous extermination camp at the time he was imprisoned there, it said. "Those who claim they were only following orders are, in my opinion, accomplices to the extermination machinery." He wished that the accused would acknowledge a mistake and express regret.
The ongoing trial in Leipzig involves a civilian typist who could potentially be considered an accomplice to Nazi mass murder in over 10,000 cases at a concentration camp. As argued by the defense, questions remain about whether the woman, as a young typist, had a substantial role in the acts committed by the camp commander and other main perpetrators.
Despite the defense's arguments, the Federal Prosecutor General has urged the court to reject the appeal, stating that the convicted woman had willingly served in the concentration camp, making herself available for the murder acts.
