Appeal rejected

Prison sentence for former concentration camp secretary (99) confirmed

The German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has confirmed the conviction of a former concentration camp secretary (99) for aiding and abetting mass murder. The appeal was rejected, meaning that the two-year sentence is now final.

The Itzehoe Regional Court had sentenced Irmgard F. to a two-year suspended juvenile sentence for aiding and abetting murder in 10,505 cases and attempted murder in five cases (see video above). The woman worked as a typist at the Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig between June 1943 and April 1945. She was 18 or 19 years old at the time. Through her work, Irmgard F. helped those in charge of the concentration camp to systematically kill prisoners, the court ruled.

Aiding and abetting murder
Supporting activities could also be legally interpreted as aiding and abetting murder. The defense had lodged an appeal. Among other things, the lawyers questioned whether the woman could be proven to have acted with intent. It had not been proven that she really knew what was going on in the camp. In addition, her work as a typist was not significantly different from her previous job at a bank.

"Neutral actions"
From her point of view, the actions could have been "neutral". However, the federal judges did not follow this reasoning and dismissed the appeal. Irmgard F. had aided and abetted the murders psychologically; almost all of the camp's correspondence had passed through the stenographer's desk.

The sentence - two years imprisonment - became final with this decision. Between 1939 and 1945, around 110,000 people from 28 countries were imprisoned in Stutthof concentration camp and its 39 satellite camps. Almost 65,000 of them did not survive their imprisonment.