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WORLD WAR II

German court suspends trial of ex-SS death camp guard

A German judge on Thursday suspended the trial of a former Nazi concentration camp guard after the 95-year-old defendant was hospitalized for serious heart and kidney problems.

Published: 13 December 2018 14:43 CET
German court suspends trial of ex-SS death camp guard
At the beginning of the trial, Rehbogen sat in the dock of the district court and holds his walking stick with his hand. Photo: DPA

Johann Rehbogen is accused of complicity in mass murder at the Stutthof camp near what was then Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland.

His trial opened on November 6th, but after several hearings was adjourned as Rehbogen's health deteriorated.

Fourteen hearing days had been set for Rehbogen's trial but on Thursday a medical expert found it unlikely  the defendant would recover from his current health problems, a court spokesman said.

A doctor is due to re-examine Rehbogen in January, and will advise the court on whether he is fit for trial.

Judge Rainer Brackhane would then decide whether to restart the trial with new hearing dates or scrap the case.

Under Germany's court procedures, trials have to be restarted if hearings are halted for more than three weeks.

SEE ALSO: Ex-SS guard 'ashamed' but tells German court he's innocent

Rehbogen was aged 18 to 20 when he served as a guard from June 1942 to September 1944 at the Stutthof camp.

The German, from the western district of Borken, North Rhine-Westphalia state, is charged with being an accessory to the murders of several hundred camp prisoners.

These included more than 100 Polish prisoners gassed in June 1944 and “probably several hundred” Jews killed from August to December 1944 as part of the Nazis' so-called “Final Solution”.

If found guilty, he faces a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. Given his age and the possibility of an appeal he is considered unlikely to serve any time behind bars.

He broke down in tears at the trial opening and subsequently told the court he was ashamed of having been in the SS.

SEE ALSO: German ex-SS concentration guard, 94, weeps in court

Rehbogen however insisted that he was unaware of the systematic killings at the camp.

Germany has been racing to put on trial surviving SS personnel, after the legal basis for prosecuting former Nazis changed in 2011 with the landmark conviction of former guard John Demjanjuk.

He was sentenced on the grounds that he served as a cog in the Nazi killing machine at the Sobibor camp in occupied Poland, rather than for killings or atrocities linked to him personally.

German courts subsequently convicted Oskar Gröning, an accountant at Auschwitz, and Reinhold Hanning, a former SS guard at the same camp, for complicity in mass murder.

Both men were convicted at age 94 but died before they could be imprisoned.

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WORLD WAR II

How France will mark VE day on May 8th

Saturday's commemoration of the date that marks the end of World War II in Europe will be happening under strict Covid-19 health rules, but there will be events in France.

Published: 7 May 2021 12:05 CEST
Updated: 8 May 2021 09:01 CEST
How France will mark VE day on May 8th
French President Emmanuel Macron and some military will be attending this year's commemoration in Paris, as they did here, in 2019. Photo: Martin BUREAU / various sources / AFP

Why do we mark May 8th?

First a brief history. May 8th marks the formal acceptance by the Allies of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces in 1945.

Popularly known as VE Day (Victory in Europe Day), it marks the date when World War II ended in Europe.

Some fighting continued around the world, however. The United States dropped its atomic bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki months later, in August, and all hostilities officially ceased on September 2nd 1945.

But in Europe, May 8th brought the end of the Nazi threat and a promise of brighter times ahead.

How is May 8th commemorated in France?

France is one of the few European countries that have made May 8th a public holiday and most people get the day off work when it falls on a weekday (this year it will be on a Saturday, so unfortunately no extra day off).

READ ALSO The French holiday calendar for 2021

In normal times, without Covid-19, May 8th is majestically marked with a large ceremony in Paris and smaller celebrations in towns and cities across the country.

Last year’s event, although it marked the 75-year-anniversary, was a small-scale one compared to other years, as France was still under its first nationwide, strict lockdown. 

President Emmanuel Macron did go ahead with the wreath-laying ceremony at the Champs-Elysées, keeping with the tradition for French heads of state. 

What’s on this year?

The 2021 commemorations will also be less grand than other years as several Covid-19 restrictions remain in place in France.

IN DETAIL: France’s new calendar for reopening after Covid restrictions

As last year, Macron will lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe, which stands at the top of the Champs Elysées, in the presence of “a restricted number of public officials and military,” the French Defence Ministry said a press statement.

The ceremony will be closed to the public, though it will be possible to watch it live on television.

Regional authorities – the préfets – have permission to organise ceremonies in their areas, though “in a restricted format and while strictly respecting social distancing measures,” the statement read. These ceremonies will also be closed to the public.

Mayors can also lay wreath at war memorials in their communes, in ceremonies that, again, have to be in line with health rules and be closed to the public.

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