Germany to Try 95-Year-Old Auschwitz Paramedic

Via Newsweek:

A 95-year-old former paramedic at the Auschwitz concentration camp is set to face trial in Germany in February on charges of being an accessory to murder in the deaths of more than 3,681 people.

Hubert Z. was a sergeant at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in southern Poland between October 1943 and January 1944, and a paramedic between August 15 and September 1944, according to a German court. During the month he was a paramedic, 14 deportation trains arrived at the camp. On those trains and who then became prisoners in the camp, were famed diarist Anne Frank and her family, Reuters reports.

German privacy laws allow the accused’s surname to be withheld, but the Associated Press has identified him as Hubert Zafke. Hubert Z. was declared fit for trial by a court in Rostock, northern Germany, last month and his trial will take place in Neubrandenburg, in northeastern Germany, on February 29. While he is not accused of being directly involved in the killings of any of the estimated 1.1 million people who died at Auschwitz, Hubert Z. was part of the camp’s organizational structure, and knew of and participated in the slaughter of thousands of people, prosecutors claim.

It is hard to believe this is the same country that’s seen many of its officials become rape apologists in the last few weeks. The Germans never lose their gusto (or their long memories) for going after former Nazis, no matter how old they are, and that is a good thing.

Still, the mixed signals keep coming. Not only do the migrants who were responsible for the sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve represent a population that isn’t exactly fond of Jewish people, Germany overall has seen attacks on Jews in the country at a five-year high and rising faster than any other European nation.

Swapping out one evil for another doesn’t expiate any sins but then we’re not really allowed to call evil people evil anymore, are we? Wouldn’t want to hurt any feelings with harsh “right-wing rhetoric.”