100-year-old former Nazi camp guard could face trial in Germany

German authorities are pushing for a 100-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard to face trial nearly 80 years after World War II.

On Tuesday, a higher court in Frankfurt overturned a previous ruling by a lower court that had deemed the suspect, identified by German media as Gregor Formanek, unfit for trial.

Formanek was charged last year with assisting in the murders of 3 322 people while working at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin between July 1943 and February 1945.

Earlier this year, an expert concluded that Formanek’s mental and physical health made him unfit for trial, leading the Hanau court to drop the case. However, the Frankfurt court found that the expert’s assessment lacked sufficient evidence. It noted that the expert could not interview Formanek or conduct thorough psychiatric tests.

Germany’s race against time: Justice catches up with surviving Nazis

Since a 2011 landmark ruling opened the door for such cases, Germany has been racing against time to prosecute surviving former Nazis. Convictions have been secured for several former camp workers as accessories to murder, even without proof of direct involvement in killings.

However, many cases have been abandoned in recent years as suspects died or were too frail for trial.

Sachsenhausen held over 200 000 prisoners, including Jews, Roma, political dissidents, and LGBTQ individuals, between 1936 and 1945. Tens of thousands perished from forced labour, execution, starvation, disease, and medical experiments before Soviet troops liberated the camp.

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