By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BERLIN, Germany – On Tuesday March 23, the trial of an ex-Nazi soldier accused of war crimes ended in the maximum conviction of life in prison.

A trial court in Aachen, Germany (near Bonn) convicted Heinrich Boere, now 88 years old, to life in prison for killing three Dutch civilians in 1944.

Mr. Boere killed the civilians, including two Dutch business owners, in response to an attack on Nazi soldiers by Dutch resistance fighters. Prosecutors demonstrated that Mr. Boere willingly joined the infamous Feldmeijer death squad in 1940 after Nazi forces took over the Netherlands.

During the trial, which began in October 2009, Mr. Boere admitted to killing the civilians, but insisted that he was forced to follow orders from Nazi leaders in carrying out the murders. Mr. Boere was quoted by the press as saying: “I always regarded these assignments as military orders which I had to carry out.”

Presiding Judge Gerd Nohl scolded the killings, describing them as “murders that could hardly be outdone in terms of baseness and cowardice.”

Mr. Boere has been stateless since being stripped of his citizenship by the Netherlands in the 1950’s.

Tuesday’s verdict was not the first time Mr. Boere was convicted and sentenced for the murders. A Dutch court in 1949 found Mr. Boere guilty. He was then sentenced to death, but the penalty was commuted to life in prison. But Mr. Boere fled the Netherlands from his POW camp.

Mr. Boere has lived in Germany since. An attempt by the Netherlands to extradite Mr. Boere in the early 1980’s was denied when a German court determined that he had a potential German citizenship claim because he was born in Aachen.

Mr. Boere’s attorneys have said they will appeal the decision, pressing to dismiss the conviction because it did not comply with EU due process regulations. In the mean time, doctors will examine Mr. Boere to determine whether he is medically fit to serve a prison term.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Former Nazi SS member convicted of Dutch murders – 23 March 2010

JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY – Former SS soldier sentenced to life – 23 March 2010

NEW YORK TIMES – Ex-Nazi Guilty in Wartime Murders – 23 March 2010