Germany 'Takes Back' Former Nazi Camp Guard From The United States

JAKARTA - A male former Nazi concentration camp guard, "repatriated" by Germany after being expelled from the United States, where he lived for more than 60 years after the end of World War II.

The 95-year-old man was named by the US Department of Justice as Friedrich Karl Berger. Meanwhile, the German authorities only referred to him as Friedrich Karl B. He arrived from the United States via Frankfurt Airport. He was questioned by the Frankfurt Police, but he was not arrested.

A US court last year decided to remove him from Uncle Sam's country after prosecutors in the city of Celle, North Germany opened an investigation into whether he was linked to the killing of prisoners at the satellite concentration camp of the Neuengamme network, near Hamburg, in 1945.

According to German prosecutor Berger, who has lived in the United States since 1959, admitted to guarding detainees for several weeks in the Meppen area, near the Dutch border without witnessing the murder or mistreatment of prisoners. The charges against him were dropped last December after prosecutors were unable to charge him.

The US courts found that prisoners in the camps were held in "dire" conditions and exploited for forced outdoor labor, working to exhaustion and death, said the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

The court also found and Berger admitted that he was guarding prisoners to prevent them from escaping during the workday from dawn to dusk, on their way to work, and on their way back to camp at night.

A spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Celle said police in the German state of Hesse had been asked to question him on his return to Germany. Meanwhile, a police spokesman said there was no direct investigation related to him. He also confirmed that Berger is a free individual and has not been arrested.

The DOJ said it had gathered evidence leading to Berger's removal that human rights departments found in the United States and in Europe, including records of the 75-year-old trials of former leaders of the Nazi regime in Nuremberg.

In recent years, German prosecutors have filed charges against several former Nazis, seizing the last chance to guarantee justice for the millions of people who died in concentration camps during World War II.

Earlier this month, prosecutors charged a 100-year-old German man as the complement of 3.518 murders committed while he was suspected of being a guard at Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Previously, a former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp had been indicted by German prosecutors of involvement in several thousand deaths, opening the door to future prosecution trials.

This is believed to be the first time in years that a woman has been charged with Nazi wartime atrocities. Meanwhile, several men were also being chased by the authorities.

"The indictment sheet incriminates the defendant, who was still a teenager, with involvement in the murder of several thousand cases", said a statement from the prosecutor in Itzehoe, northwest Germany, reported Euronews.

"In another case, he was accused of being involved in attempted murder", the statement continued.