The woman, identified only as “Irmgard F.”, worked for the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland from June 1943 to April 1945.
Panstwowe Muzeum StutthofThe Stutthof concentration camp barracks , shown after the cantonment was liberated in May 1945 .
Irmgard F. was about 17 years old when she became a secretary at the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland in 1943 . For about two class , she extend about her work — as the Nazis mutilate tens of thousand of people just outdoors of her office . Now 95 , she ’s been point as an accessory in 10,000 execution and complicity in seek murders .
According toThe Smithsonian , the womanclaimed that she did n’t knowabout the aggregated murder taking home at the camp . Identified only as Irmgard F. due to German privacy laws , she admit knowing only of “ some death penalty ” during her time there between June 1943 and April 1945 .
Panstwowe Muzeum StutthofThe Stutthof concentration camp barracks, shown after the camp was liberated in May 1945.
Until she was hit with the charges earlier this calendar month , Irmgard F. has never been forced to calculate with her past in court . Now facing the legal reverberation of “ assist and abetting murder in more than 10,000 cases , ” the woman maintained that she had n’t been aware of the true shell of Stutthof ’s operations until after World War II was over .
Public DomainMany Polish prisoners were executed in Stutthof after Germany ’s invasion in 1939 .
The case of Irmgard F. is rooted in Germany ’s push to hold as many Nazis accountable as possible — especially since many of them are now close to death . It was only last summertime that 93 - year - old Stutthof guardBruno Deywas convict as an accessory to murders . Like him , Irmgard F. will be tried in puerile courtroom — since she was under 21 at the sentence .
Public DomainMany Polish prisoners were executed in Stutthof after Germany’s invasion in 1939.
Being tried in adolescent court of justice probably means that her sentence will be comparatively meek . For instance , when Dey was found guilty of 5,230 counts of accessory to murder , he received a two - year suspend time . Still , German authorities are intransigent that these crimes must come to lighter .
“ It ’s about concrete province she had in the daily functioning of the camp , ” said Peter Müller - Rakow of the public prosecutor ’s offices in Itzehoe , a town near Hamburg .
While the charge may come as a surprise to Irmgard F. herself , the nature of them stem from a shimmy in Germany ’s coming to Nazi crimes . In the past , authorities in the main focus on targeting high - ranking Nazi official . But the conviction of John Demjanjuk in 2011 led to more indictments of lower - ranking Nazis for their complicity in the regimen .
Wikimedia CommonsThe entrance to Stutthof in modern times.
Demnjanjuk — a former guard at the Sobibor camp in Poland — was convicted as an appurtenance to 27,900 murder at Sobibor in 2011 . Ever since then , German authorities have been investigating other surviving staff office , such as guards , overseers , and secretaries like Irmgard F. Prosecutors have often opted to charge them as accessary to multiple murders , rather than being separately responsible for for just a few .
Wikimedia CommonsThe ingress to Stutthof in modern times .
allot toCNN , prosecutors in Germanyare presently in the midstof 13 other cases connected to assiduity camp like Stutthof . Though Irmgard F. is one of just a few woman to face accessory charges , she ’s not the only one . In 2015 , Helma M. — a former radio operator at Auschwitz — was charge with 260,000 tally of accoutrement to murder .
TASS/Getty ImagesOne of the Stutthof crematoriums, documented during the liberation in May 1945.
While it was subsequently harness that Helma M. was bad to stand trial , that outcome does n’t appear probable for Irmgard F. She has spoken about her experience at Stutthof quite clear — even claiming that she did n’t know about the aggregative murder at the camp because her federal agency window manoeuver aside from the composite where the atrociousness took place .
“ It ’s fair to say that the bulk of these women knew about the persecution of the Jews and some of them know about them being murdered , ” historian Rachel CenturytoldThe New York Times . “ But some escritoire had roles that gave them more admittance to info than others . ”
TASS / Getty ImagesOne of the Stutthof crematoriums , document during the sack in May 1945 .
Public DomainOne of the crematoriums at Stutthof.
Stutthof was the first concentration camp the Nazis ever construct outdoors of Germany ’s margin . erect in 1939 , it examine two horrific epidemic of typhus fever kill 1000 of its already dying population in 1942 and 1944 . unnumberable prisoners who were leave too weak to piece of work were simply murder .
harmonise to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum , Stutthofheld more than 100,000 prisonersover its six eld as a engrossment camp , with more than 60,000 of them killed before the Allies liberated the survivor . It ’s no wonder why many German attorney consider the charges against Irmgard F. to be a victory .
“ It ’s a real milestone in judicial answerableness , ” said Onur Özata , a lawyer representing Nazi ingroup survivors . “ The fact that a secretaire in this system , a bureaucratic cog , can be brought to justice is something new . ”
In terms of the potential outcome , it appears that the public prosecutor ’s spot has soundly prepared for the case . With five long time of investigation , interviews with survivor now living in Israel and the United States , and the assistance of an main historian — prosecutors appear to be convinced with the grounds they ’ve collected .
Public DomainOne of the crematoriums at Stutthof .
“ The court cases are also important because , beyond historic research , they help to document and elucidate Nazi crimes , and because they bring the subject to the world ’s tending , ” said Jens - Christian Wagner , the film director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau - Dora concentration camps memorial .
However , Müller - Rakow admitted that this was still “ a highly complicated case , ” since Irmgard F. had already served as a lawcourt spectator when Stutthof ’s commander Paul Werner Hoppe locomote on trial in 1957 . ( Though he was convicted of his crime , he was released in the 1960s and died in the ’ 70s . )
In the end , the fate of Irmgard F. calculate on whether the court of law deems her role in Stutthof ’s atrocities to be glaringly apparent or insufficiently documented . It remains to be interpret if she ’ll be held accountable for her legal action during the Holocaust .
After reading about the 95 - yr - old Nazi camp writing table , take a look at24 photos of the Nazis ’ all - distaff Ravensbrück tightness camp . Then , take a look atfootage of Dachau ’s liberation .
