Convicted Nazi guard dubbed the ‘Bookkeeper of Auschwitz’ dies aged 96

Oskar Groening was sentenced to four years in prison in 2015 for his role in the murder of 300,000 people at the camp

Germany

Agence France-Presse

Published: 3:46am, 13 Mar 2018

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A former Nazi SS guard dubbed the “Bookkeeper of Auschwitz” has died aged 96 nearly three years after his conviction for being an accessory to murder, German media said on Monday.

Hannover prosecutor Kathrin Soefker says a lawyer informed her office that Oskar Groening died Friday in a hospital. Soefker says the office is awaiting an official death certificate.

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The lawyer, Hans Holtermann, didn’t immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Then 94-year-old, ex-Waffen-SS member Oskar Groening, was sentenced to four years prison for accessory of murder in 300,000 cases at the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Groening, who was known as the Bookkeeper of Auschwitz died on March 12, 2018 at age 96. Photo: EPA-EFE

Groening worked as an accountant at Auschwitz, sorting belongings and counting the money taken from those killed or used as slave labour, and shipping it back to his Nazi superiors in Berlin. At his trial, he said he witnessed individual atrocities, but did not acknowledge participating in any crimes.

He was found guilty in July 2015 of being an accessory to the murders of 300,000 people at the camp and sentenced to four years in prison.

A court doctor determined last year that he was able to serve his sentence, on condition he was given appropriate nursing and medical care, but he was never jailed.

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