A former SS guard at the Nazis’ Auschwitz concentration camp complex has been charged with 170,000 counts of accessory to murder by a German court.
The 93-year-old’s attorney, Johannes Salmen, says that his client was at Auschwitz I — the first camp established near Oswiecim in 1940 — but denies being assigned to the part of the camp where 1.1 million people were killed, or that he took part in those killings, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.
The man’s identity has not been disclosed due to privacy laws.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum says Auschwitz I was built for three purposes:
• Incarcerate enemies of the Nazi regime and the German occupation authorities in Poland.
• Supply the regime with forced laborers.
• Eliminate populations whose death was determined to be essential to the security of Nazi Germany.
In addition to its infamous gas chambers and crematorium, Auschwitz I was also the location where Adolf Hitler’s regime conducted medical experiments on prisoners.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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