A 97-year-old woman convicted this month of being an accessory to the murder of more than 10,500 people at the Stutthof Nazi concentration camp during World War II appealed her case on Wednesday.
Irmgard Furchner served as secretary to the SS commandant of the concentration camp and, on December 20, it was discovered that she knowingly participated in the system that led to the deaths of 10,505 people in the camp near Danzig, now known as the polish city. from Gdańsk.
It was also discovered that he had been an accessory to attempted murder in five cases.
Irmgard Furchner, accused of being part of the apparatus that helped the Nazis run the Stutthof concentration camp, appears in court for the verdict at her trial in Itzehoe, Germany, Tuesday, December 20, 2022.
GERMAN COURT SENTENCES 97-YEAR-OLD WOMAN FOR WORKING AS A NAZI SS SECRETARY IN A CONCENTRATION CAMP
The German court argued that Furchner, who began her role at the age of 18, “knew and through her work as a stenographer in the Stutthof concentration camp commandant’s office from June 1, 1943 to 1 April 1945, deliberately supported the fact that 10,505 prisoners were cruelly gassed to death because of the hostile conditions in the camp.”
He was also found to have knowledge about the transport of prisoners to the Auschwitz death camp and forced participation in death marches at the end of the war.
“The promotion of these acts by the defendants occurred through the completion of paperwork,” a statement from the court said. “This activity was necessary for the organization of the camp and the execution of the cruel and systematic acts of killing.”
A pile of prisoners’ shoes in one of the barracks in the area of the former Nazi German KL Stutthof concentration camp in Sztutowo, Poland, on September 10, 2022. Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of Germany.
(Photo by Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
GERMAN PROSECUTORS CALL FOR EX-NAZI FIELD SECRETARY TO BE SENTENCED AS ACCESSORY TO MURDER
Furchner received a two-year suspended sentence.
An attorney for a co-plaintiff and her defense attorneys appealed the verdict on Wednesday.
The defense has argued that there was no evidence to support beyond a doubt that Furchner was aware of the systematic killings at the Stutthof concentration camp.
Presiding Judge Dominik Gross dismissed defense attempts to acquit the former secretary of an SS major, saying it was “simply beyond imagination” that Furchner was unaware of the killings at the camp, saying he could have seen from the office the crematorium.
The gas chamber of the former Nazi German concentration camp KL Stutthof in Sztutowo, Poland, on September 10, 2022. Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of Germany. Completed in September 1939, it was located in an isolated, humid and wooded area, west of the small town of Sztutowo, Freie Stadt Danzig area.
(Photo by Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Some 65,000 Jews, Poles and political prisoners were murdered in the camp which stood from 1939 until its liberation in 1945.
Furchner was tried in juvenile court even though she was 18 and 19 when the alleged crimes occurred, as the court was unable to establish beyond doubt her “mental maturity” at the time.
The 97-year-old reportedly apologized in her closing statement, saying she was sorry to work at Stutthof.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
