Germany: former Nazi concentration camp guard to be trialed at 93

Bruno Dey, a former guard of the Stutthof concentration camp, is set to go on trial in Hamburg, Germany on Thursday. Dey’s criminal case marks him as one of the last individuals charged over Holocaust crimes.

Dey was 17 years old when he was recruited in the SS-Totenkopfsturmbann or the Death’s Head Battalion. Members of the battalion were assigned to man the watchtowers of the concentration camp located near Gdańsk, Poland. Dey is now aged 93.

The 93-year-old will be trialed for having a hand in the murder of 5,230 people in the period between August 1944 and April 1945. The death toll counts the 5,000 prisoners who died of typhus — an epidemic that was caused by the repulsive hygiene conditions of the camp.

Prisoners were also denied water, food, and medicine. Of the aforementioned figure, 200 people were killed in the gas chambers. Meanwhile, the other 30 were executed with a device specially designed to kill with a shot in the neck, The Guardian reports.

Prosecutors of the case argue that guards played a substantial role in allowing the mass murders in Stutthof to happen. Guards like Dey had to prevent prisoners from escaping at Stutthof concentration camp. Over 65,000 people were murdered before the camp was liberated by the allied forces on May 9, 1945.

Dey has reportedly cooperated with investigators of the case during eight interviews. A physician has declared the man mentally fit for a trial. However, each trial will last no more than two hours.