Trial of Former SS Auschwitz Medic Verging on Collapse

NEUBRANDENBURG, Germany (AP) —
Documents for the trail against former SS medic Hubert Zafke stand on a desk at the court in Neubrandenburg, about 120 kilometer (75 miles) north of Berlin, Germany, Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. The 95-year-old former SS medic is going on trial on 3,681 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he helped the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp function. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Documents for the trail against former SS medic Hubert Zafke stand on a desk at the court in Neubrandenburg, Germany, Monday. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The trial of a former SS medic on 3,681 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he helped the Nazis’ Auschwitz death camp function appears close to collapse before it even opens, after a doctor found the 95-year-old defendant unfit to be transported to the court.

Presiding Judge Klaus Kabisch told the Neubrandenburg state court, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Berlin, on Monday that a doctor over the weekend found Hubert Zafke was suffering from stress and high blood pressure, and had suicidal thoughts.

The trial’s opening was postponed until March 14, with both sides agreeing Zafke should be examined by doctors the morning of the proceedings to see if he is fit.

The undated photo provided by the Archive of the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau shows SS Oberscharfuehrer Hubert Zafke. Zafke, now 95, is scheduled to go on trial Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 in Neubrandenburg, north of Berlin, on 3,681 counts of accessory to murder on accusations he served as a medic at an SS hospital in Auschwitz in 1944. (The Archive of the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau via AP)
These undated photos show SS Oberscharfuehrer Hubert Zafke. (The Archive of the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau via AP)

Zafke’s unit was allegedly involved in putting gas into gas chambers to kill Jews, among other things.

Zafke’s attorney insists his client did nothing criminal.

 

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