A 97-year-old former secretary to the SS commander of the Stutthof concentration camp in Nazi Germany has petitioned to be exonerated, according to her attorneys, who claim that their client was unaware of the atrocities done there.
The camp is located in what is now northern Poland.
At the Itzehoe state court in northern Germany, Irmgard Furchner has been on trial for more than a year.
According to a court official, Furchner apologized for what had occurred and expressed regret that she had been present at the scene.
Her attorneys asked for her to be exonerated because there was no proof of intent, which is necessary for criminal responsibility because it had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Furchner was aware of the camp’s systematic executions.
In their closing arguments last month, the prosecution argued that Furchner should be found guilty of being an accessory to murder and sentenced to a two-year suspended term for her role in the machinery that kept the Nazis’ Stutthof camp running during World War II.
At the close of World War II, tens of thousands of people perished at Stutthof and its satellite camps or during death marches.
Because she was a minor when the alleged crimes allegedly occurred, Furchner, who made headlines last year when she fled her trial, is being tried in juvenile court.
On Dec. 20, the court noted a decision was anticipated.
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