German court urged to reopen Auschwitz medic trial

[PHDNM]

German court urged to reopen Auschwitz medic trial

March 29, 2017

BERLIN — A group of Holocaust survivors, historians and others are urging a German court to reopen as soon as possible the trial of an ex-SS medic who served at the Auschwitz death camp.

In a letter to the Neubrandenburg state court provided to The Associated Press Wednesday, the group accused the presiding judge of a "partisan approach" and being more concerned with the physical condition of Hubert Zafke than "the defendant's responsibility."

The trial has been postponed repeatedly after judges ruled the 96-year-old was unfit.

In December, the court rejected a complaint filed by prosecutors and attorneys representing Auschwitz victims and their families to remove the judges for alleged bias.

Zafke is charged with 3,681 counts of accessory to murder for allegedly helping the camp function. His attorney says he did nothing criminal.

http://www.startribune.com/german-co...ial/417440943/

[PHDNM]

German case against Auschwitz medic, 96, to be thrown out

German prosecutors called Thursday for the case of a 96-year-old former Nazi medical orderly at the Auschwitz death camp to be thrown out because he was deemed unfit for trial.

Hubert Zafke had faced charges of 3,681 counts of being an accessory to murder in the concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

But concerns over his mental and physical health had led to repeated postponements of the trial, which began in February 2016 in the northeastern lakeside town of Neubrandenburg.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Wor...hrown-out.ashx