‘Bookkeeper of Auschwitz’ convicted

(Vatican Radio)  The man known as the ‘Bookkeeper of Auschwitz’ was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday.

Listen to Devin Watkins' report:

Oskar Groening was convicted in a German court of being an accessory to the murder of 300,000 Hungarian Jews during the Second World War.

Mr. Groening, a former SS guard now 94 years of age, was held responsible for counting the belongings confiscated from prisoners at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in occupied Poland.

In a statement recounting his time at Auschwitz, he admitted his moral culpability for the murder of millions of Jews, saying, “Before the victims, I also admit to this moral guilt here, with regret and humility. To the question as to whether I am criminally culpable, that’s for you to decide.”

Mr. Groening was unusual among former Nazis brought to trial, since he had publicly discussed his role at Auschwitz, holding that he was speaking out in order to silence those who deny the Holocaust took place.

Before the trial held in the northern German city Lueneburg, Hedy Bohm, a survivor of the Nazi death camp who now lives in New York, spoke about the role of those responsible for such atrocities. “Those who commit crimes today must know they will be held responsible in the future.  Never again will they be able to just plead ‘I’m a cog in the machinery, I didn’t kill.”

It is still unknown whether Mr. Groening will be sent to jail, given his advanced age.