A German court will rule on the appeal of a former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp, age 99

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German Court Upholds Conviction of 99-Year-Old Former Nazi Secretary

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Nazi Concentration Camp Secretary, 99, Loses Appeal

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German court upholds conviction of 99-year-old former Nazi camp secretary

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German court rejects appeal by ex-Nazi secretary over role in 10,500 murders

A German court has rejected the appeal of 99-year-old Irmgard Furchner for her role in the deaths of over 10K people as a secretary at the Nazi Stutthof concentration camp during World War II.

Last month, lawyers for Furchner — originally tried in a juvenile court because she was 18 and 19 during the time that the crimes took place — challenged whether Furchner was truly conscious of what was going on at the camp.

From June 1943 to Apr. 1945, Furchner took notes for and handled the correspondence of camp commander Paul Werner Hoppe.

Le Monde.fr

In December 2022, she was given a two-year suspended sentence for her role in what prosecutors called the "cruel and malicious murder" of the prisoners at the camp, with presiding judge Dominik Gross saying that "nothing that happened at Stutthof was kept from her."

Following her sentencing, lawyers for Furchner filed an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice. On Tuesday, however, the higher court rejected the appeal with presiding judge Gabriele Cirener saying "the conviction of the defendant... is final."

The trial is considered by many to be one of the last of its kind, as many of those involved in the Nazis' crimes have either died or are now unfit to stand trial due to their old age.

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A German court rejected the appeal of 99-year-old Irmgard Furchner for her role in the deaths of over 10K people as a secretary at the Nazi Stutthof concentration camp during World War II.

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Furchner was originally tried in a juvenile court because she was 18 and 19 during the time that the crimes took place. Last month, her lawyers cast doubt on whether Furchner could be considered an accessory to the murders at the camp and whether she was truly aware of what was going on.

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In 2022, she was given a two-year suspended sentence for her role in what prosecutors called the "cruel and malicious murder" of the prisoners at the camp, with presiding judge Dominik Gross saying that Furchner was aware of the "extremely bad conditions for the prisoners."

Following the sentencing in Dec. 2022, lawyers for Furchner filed an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice. On Tuesday, however, the higher court rejected the appeal with presiding judge Gabriele Cirener saying "the conviction of the defendant... to a two-year suspended sentence is final."

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While administrative employees like Furchner are less close to the crimes than high-ranking officials, they still knowingly participated in them. Providing administrative assistance to mass murder counts as serving as an accessory to mass murder. In her role, Furchner participated in work that led to the deaths of thousands of people. She should be held legally accountable for this.

German court upholds conviction of 99-year-old former Nazi secretary

It is ridiculous that someone who did small administrative tasks at a desk like reading, writing, and sorting correspondences should be charged with the murder of thousands of prisoners. Furchner has long maintained that she was unaware of the murders that took place at the camp and had no contact with the prisoners. This elderly woman should not be punished for crimes she did not commit just because she was a secretary as a teenager.

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Germany Upholds Conviction of Former Nazi Secretary

Germany

While administrative employees like Furchner are less close to the crimes than high-ranking officials, they still knowingly participated in them. In this case, providing administrative assistance to mass murder counts as serving as an accessory to mass murder, and Furchner  must be held responsible. This latest ruling is evidence that Germany's justice system is working as it should.

These types of trials are important to keeping the tragedy of the Holocaust in our collective memories — but they are few and far between. The number of guilty individuals taken before Germany's court is merely a drop in the bucket of people who committed atrocities on behalf of the Nazi regime. It's time to consider alternative and equally promising ways of dealing with unresolved Holocaust crimes.

Germany Upholds Conviction of Former Nazi Secretary

Germany Upholds Conviction of Former Nazi Secretary

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Germany Upholds Conviction of Former Nazi Secretary

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