Tri-Service

'Bookkeeper of Auschwitz' Oscar Groening Goes On Trial

A 93-year-old man is going on trial in Germany on 300,000 counts of accessory to murder over allegations that he helped the functioning of the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland by serving as a guard there.

Oskar Groening is accused of serving at Auschwitz between May and June 1944, when some 425,000 Jews from Hungary were taken there and at least 300,000 almost immediately gassed to death.

Mr Groening states his innocence, explaining that he did not take part directly in the killing, and described his role as "a small cog in the gears".

"If you can describe that as guilt, then I am guilty, but not voluntarily. Legally speaking, I am innocent."

Prosecutors say that, among other things, he helped to collect and tally money as part of his job dealing with the belongings stolen from camp victims, earning him the moniker "Accountant of Auschwitz".

Wedding rings stolen from Holocaust victims were among valuables typically laundered throughMax Heilinger accounts

He is expected to address the charges at his trial in Lueneburg, south of Hamburg.