An elderly woman was convicted of aiding 10,500 Nazi murders

After a total of 40 days of deliberations, the judge convicted 97-year-old defendant Irmgard Furchner of complicity in murder in more than 10,505 counts and complicity in attempted murder in five counts, the NDR said.

In about 14 months, the trial files grew to about 3,600 pages, as did a USB memory stick containing about 2,000 interrogation records.

14 witnesses, eight of whom survived the Stutthof concentration camp, also testified.

The trial, which had to be postponed after the defendants fled, finally started on October 19 last year.

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Between March and April, the trial was suspended due to the defendant’s illness, and both the survivors and their lawyers feared the 90-year-old would never appear in court again; however, he recovered and the first case of its kind against a civilian employee resumed on April 26.

Between June 1943 and April 1945, aged 18 to 19, the accused worked as a civilian employee as a stenographer and typist for the commandos at the Stutthof Nazi camp near Danzig, Poland.

The prosecutor’s office requested a conviction under the Criminal Liability of Minors Act, which, since he was still a teenager at the time, applies until the suspect turns 21 years old.

The prosecutor stated that he was convinced that Furchner’s office work contributed to the operation of the camp and that his volunteer work was an important support for the camp commander and his deputies.

About 65,000 prisoners, most of them Jews, died in Stutthof concentration camp during World War II, mainly from weakness and disease.

At least 200 prisoners were killed with Zyklon B in the gas chamber and in a closed carriage, and 30 prisoners were shot in the back of the head at an undisclosed location in the crematorium.