Reinhold Hanning, a former SS officer in Auschwitz, has been sentenced to five years in prison. He was found guilty of being an accessory to the murder of over 170,000 people.
The 94 year old, thought to be one of the last living Nazi officers to be trailed, told the court that he knew what was happening at the concentration camp, yet did nothing to stop the genocides from going ahead.
Last July, 95 year old Nazi Officer Oskar Groening (also known as the ‘bookkeeper of Auschwitz), was sentenced to four years in prison.
How German newspapers have reacted to the story
by Thade Harms
German media reporting was generally neutral on the topic. Big German newspapers Zeit, FAZ, and Spiegel did not voice any opinions about the outcome of the trial on their websites. The exception was Germany’s biggest tabloid ‘Bild’ who criticised that Hanning had not made a statement or testimony regarding his guilt during the trial, although Bild pointed out that Hanning voiced regrets for his deeds earlier in the trial. Bild was also one of the few newspapers not to report the trial’s outcome on the homepage of its website.
‘Der Spiegel’ also reported that the World Jewish Congress (WJC), a body politically representing jews that do not live in Israel, is satisfied with the verdict of the trial which was “late but fair”.
German chancellor Angela Merkel, who is currently accommodating the Polish PM, has not yet reacted toward the trial’s outcome. Other federal German politicians have not yet reacted either.