- Previous figure in charge of a concentration camp has been convicted for facilitating and contributing to widespread homicides.
The Highest German Court, or BGH, has upheld the conviction of an ex-concentration camp secretary for aiding and abetting mass murders. The 5th Criminal Division of the BGH in Leipzig dismissed an appeal against a ruling by the Itzehoe Regional Court. The Itzehoe court had given the now 99-year-old Irmgard F. a two-year probation sentence for aiding and abetting the homicide of 10,505 people and attempted murders in five instances. This conviction is now final.
This case is believed to be the last criminal trial regarding Nazi mass killings. Irmgard F. served as a typist in the commander's office of the Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig from June 1943 to April 1945. At the time, she was 18 or 19 years old. The Itzehoe court concluded that through her work, the young woman had supported the camp's leadership in the systematic execution of prisoners. Even minor assistance could be considered aiding and abetting murder under the law.
Over 60,000 people perished in the Stutthof concentration camp
Irmgard F.'s legal team had filed an appeal. The BGH held a hearing on this matter in late July. The lawyers argued, among other things, that there was no proof of the woman's intent to commit these crimes. They claimed that she was unaware of the camp's activities and that her typist job was not significantly different from her previous work at a bank. They argued that she had merely performed "neutral actions" from her perspective. However, the BGH did not accept this argument.
The BGH supported the Itzehoe Regional Court's assessment that Irmgard F. had provided psychological support to the murderers through her willingness to serve. Nearly all the camp's correspondence passed through her hands.
According to the Arolsen Archives, roughly 110,000 people from 28 countries were imprisoned in the Stutthof camp and its 39 subcamps between 1939 and 1945. Approximately 65,000 of them did not survive.
The appeal against Irmgard F.'s conviction was dismissed by the 5th Criminal Division of the Court of Justice in Leipzig, upholding the original ruling by the Itzehoe Regional Court. Given her role as a typist in the commander's office of the Stutthof concentration camp, Irmgard F. was deemed to have played a part in supporting the systematic execution of prisoners, according to the Court of Justice's assessment.
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