Former Nazi Auschwitz Guard Not Fit to Stand Trial Due to Dementia

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BERLIN, Germany – A German court ruled that a former guard at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp is unfit to stand trial.

A gate to the Auschwitz Death Camp translates to “Work Sets You Free.” (Photo courtesy of the Washington Post

Hans Lipschis, 94, was determined to not be able to stand trial as he is suffering from dementia. Judges at the Ellwangen court in Germany ruled that Lipschis would not be able to understand the proceedings following the charges of being an accessory to murder during his time as a guard as Auschwitz.

“The court has refused to open the trial. The chamber is of the opinion that the 94-year-old is incapable of standing trial. It bases this judgment on its own personal impression and the opinion of a psychiatrist,” a court statement reported.

Lipschis was arrested last May. He had immigrated to the United States in 1956, but was deported in 1983 after he was accused of concealing his past as a Nazi officer. Lipschis avoided prosecution for over thirty years, as prosecutors were unable to link him to a specific crime or victim. However, the recent conviction of Ivan Demjanjuk, a death camp guard, provided a legal precedent for prosecution of Nazi war criminals without specific evidence. In 2011, a German court convicted Demjanjuk of playing a role in the murder of 28,000 Jews at a Nazi camp in Poland.

Lipschis worked as a Nazi guard at Auschwitz from 1941 to 1943, during which twelve prisoner convoys arrived at the extermination camp. Approximately 10,000 of those prisoners were determined unfit for work and executed in the gas chamber upon arrival.

The complaint against Lipschis alleged that he had been a member of the Waffen SS, a Nazi unit that specialized in “systematically exploiting and murdering people because of their race … and other characteristics.” The complaint further stated that Lipschis had been assigned to two different death camps during his tenure.

Lipschis admitted last year to the German newspaper Die Welt that he had been a cook at Auschwitz and stated that he later left the camp in order to fight on the Eastern Front, although he could not remember which he had been assigned to.

Roughly 1.5 million people were killed at Auschwitz. The deceased were mostly Jewish people, but also Roma, Poles and various other groups had been murdered as well.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – German Court Says Nazi Suspect Unfit For Trial – 28 February 2014

AP News – German Court Says Nazi Suspect Unfit For Trial – 28 February 2014

Chicago Tribune – Suspected Auschwitz Guard Found Unfit For Trial – 28 February 2014

Washington Post – German Court Says Nazi Suspect Unfit For Trial – 28 February 2014

 

Iran Claims Abducted Border Guards Freed in Pakistan

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran-Iranian military officials have reported that five Iranian border guards who were seized and held captive in Pakistan have been released.  The guards were held captive for three weeks.

Iranian soldiers reportedly freed from Pakistan (photo courtesy of Fars News)

The Iranian soldiers were abducted by Sunni Muslim militants on February 6 in the Sistan-Baluchistan province.  They were among 11 foreign hostages that were freed in an operation by Pakistani forces, reported Iran’s official news agency IRNA.

“Five Iranian troops who had been kidnapped on our eastern borders and transferred to Pakistan were freed,” stated General Massoud Jazaerisemi.

He did not elaborate on the circumstances of the release, only saying that “the country’s entire police and security apparatus were involved in this matter.”

Pakistani authorities, however, appeared to have no knowledge of the operation.

It was reported by the Frontier Corps, a government run paramilitary that is primarily responsible for security in Baluchistan, that they had freed three Africans who were kidnapped by drug traffickers in Baluchistan on Saturday, but had not recovered any of the Iranians.

Sistan-Baluchistan is an impoverished and relatively lawless province that has seen an abundance of rebellion by a disgruntled Sunni minority in a predominantly Shi’ite Iran.

Iran warned two weeks ago that it might pursue the rebels into Pakistani territory, provoking an angry warning from Islamabad.  This warning is sparked from anger over a spate of cross-border attacks by the so-called Jaish al-Adl, translated to the Army of Justice.

Earlier this month, Jaish al Adl set several conditions for releasing the Iranian soldiers in a statement on its website. The group has called on Iran to release fifty of its arrested members, 200 prisoners and fifty female militants imprisoned in Syria in a swap deal with the five border guards.

The group released a photo of the kidnapped border guards and claimed the responsibility for their abduction on February 8.  On February 11, Iran called on Pakistani officials to arrest and extradite members of the group who were responsible for the abduction of border guards.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif enjoys warm relations with Saudi Arabia, which sheltered him after an earlier military coup forced him into exile. Sharif’s cash-strapped government is also hoping for financial aid from the Saudis. As such, Iran accuses both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia of supporting an armed Sunni rebellion.

For more information, please see the following: 

Al Jazeera-Iran says border guards freed in Pakistan-02 March 2014

Reuters-Iran says abducted border guards freed in Pakistan-02 March 2014

Tribune-Abducted guards freed, says Iran-02 March 2014

Fars News-Abducted Iranian Border Guards Released in Pakistan-01 March 2014