German prosecutors investigate alleged 105-year-old former-Nazi PoW camp guard over WWII crimes

A 105-year-old German citizen is being investigated over crimes committed at a Nazi prisoner of war (PoW) camp during World War II, German prosecutors announced on Thursday, the BBC reported.

The prosecutors allege that the man was an accessory to multiple counts of murder at the Stalag VI K PoW camp in Senne, northwestern Germany, the BBC explained. Futher details about the former guard have been kept private.

Prosecutors attempting to investigate Nazi-era crimes face a host of challenges as most of the remaining suspects and witnesses are already dead. Of the 5.3 million Red Army soldiers held by the Germans during WWII, only 50% are thought to have made it home.

A similar case involving a seperate former guard at Senne had been underway when the supect died, aged 99, prosecutors explained. Many cases have been abandoned in recent years after the accused died or became physically unable to stand trial.

Germany hasn't had a statute of limitations for murder or accessory to murder since 1979, allowing the prosecution of Nazi crimes from WWII.

Stalag VI Prisoner of War camp, one of Nazi Germany's largest

According to records, one in three Soviet PoWs were processed through Senne, which was one of the largest PoW camps in Nazi Germany.

Approximately 300,000 prisoners, including 180,000 to 200,000 Soviet prisoners of war were held in the camp during WWII. When American troops liberated Senne in 1945, only 9,000 living prisoners were still inside.

Many of the surviving PoWs were treated like traitors when they finally returned to their home countries.

Precedent for investigating former Nazi Guards

A 100-year-old guard from Stalag VI A (Helmer) is also currently under investigation on suspicion that he served as a Nazi camp guard and took part in executions during the final years of World War II.

The legal landscape for prosecuting former guards shifted in 2011 with the conviction of John Demjanjuk, a former Sobibor death camp guard. Prior to his conviction, the courts had required evidence of direct involvement in the atrocities committed during WWII.

Since then, several former concentration camp guards have been found guilty of being accessories to murder, on the same basis as Demjanjuk.

In 2020, a 93-year-old former concentration camp guard was found guilty of being complicit in the murders of more than 5,000 people held in the camp.

These cases set a legal precedent for charging former Nazi camp guards; however, with each passing year, the window for further prosecutions narrows.

 More than 80 years after the end of WWII, most former guards who are still alive are at least 100 years old, and time is running out to convict them for their involvement in crimes during the war.