A German court has ruled that a 95 year-old man accused of being accessory to the murder of at least 3,681 people at Auschwitz-Birkenau is fit to stand trial.
The man, who was an SS sergeant at the camp between 1943 and 1944 and later served there as a paramedic, is known as Hubert Z. He had previously been deemed too fragile for trial but the higher court of Rostock in northern Germany has this week reversed that decision.
Although Mr Z is not accused of being directly involved with any killings at the camp, the prosecution says he was aware of the camp’s activities and by participating, accelerated the deaths of thousands of Jews.
“Given his awareness, the accused lent support to the organisation of the camp and was thereby both involved in and promoted the extermination,” the prosecutors said in a statement.
