Trial of former Nazi camp secretary may not go forward

• Author: Sara Sharf
• Published date: 29 September 2021

Irmgard Furchner has been charged for being complicit in the murders of 11,000 people, most of them Jews, at the Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) between June 1943 and April 1945. As she was 18 or 19 at the time, German law dictates that she be tried in juvenile court.

In a handwritten letter, Furchner expressed to the court in northern Germany that she does not intend to appear, citing her age and ill health, according to the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.

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German criminal law obliges that the accused be present at their trial, and cannot proceed in their absence.

The court had previously ruled that she was fit to stand trial.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) has expressed concern at this development and urged German authorities to ensure the trial will proceed as planned.

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, a historian at SWC, said: "The trial of Stutthof secretary Furchner is of unique importance due to the identity and gender of the defendant. The important role played by female Nazi war criminals...