Irmgard Fuchner, accused of being part of a device that aided the functioning of the Nazi Stutthof concentration camp, appears before her trial in Itzehoe, Germany, December 20, 2022. . (Christian Charisius/Pool Photo via DPA)
A 97-year-old woman who was secretary to the Nazi Stutthof concentration camp commander during World War II speaks out about her belief that she was responsible for more than 10,000 murders in Germany.
In its December 20 ruling, the Itzehoe Regional Court sentenced Irmgard Furchner to two years’ probation for aiding in 10,505 murders and five attempted murders. The court said Wednesday that both defense attorneys and co-plaintiffs’ attorneys have appealed to the Federal Court of Justice.
It is unclear at this time when a federal court will consider the case.
Fruchner was accused of being part of the apparatus that helped the camp near Danzig, now the Polish city of Gdansk, function from June 1943 to April 1945.
The case relied on German jurisprudence established over the last decade, stating that anyone who helped Nazi concentration camps or concentration camps function was involved in specific killings. also admitted that he would be prosecuted as incidental to the murders committed there.
The defense attorney argued that the evidence did not show that she knew about the systematic killings in the Stutthof camp, meaning there was no proof of intent necessary for criminal charges. He sought an acquittal of Fruchner.
But Judge Dominic Gross said in announcing the verdict that Fruchner’s failure to notice the killing in Stutthof was “utterly unimaginable”.
Furchner was tried in a juvenile court because the crimes were committed when she was 18 and 19, and the court could not establish beyond doubt her “mental maturity” at the time. .
