Convicted Former Auschwitz Guard Dies Aged 95

A former SS sergeant who was convicted of 170,000 counts of accessory to murder over his time as an Auschwitz guard has died at the age of 95.

Reinhold Hanning died on May 30, his attorney confirmed, without giving further details.

Hanning was convicted last year and sentenced to five years in prison, though he did not serve time behind bars as his case was under appeal.

During the trial Mr Hanning, who served at the camp between January 1942 and June 1944, said:

"I want to say that it disturbs me deeply that I was part of such a criminal organisation. I am ashamed that I saw injustice and never did anything about it and I apologise for my actions. I am very, very sorry."

Hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews were murdered during his time there.

While there was no evidence he directly participated in killings at Auschwitz, he was convicted as an accessory for helping the Nazi death camp function in his capacity as a guard in a verdict hailed as an overdue victory for victims.

He also told the court at the time he was "ashamed that I saw injustice and never did anything about it".

The Nazis killed about 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, at Auschwitz in occupied Poland.