Germany has opened a war crimes investigation against a retired toolmaker living in Philadelphia.

Johann “Hans” Breyer, 87, is accused of working as an SS guard at Auschwitz. Breyer admits that he was an Auschwitz guard, but says his post was outside the Nazi camp and he had nothing to do with the deaths of Jews inside its gates, according to The Associated Press.

The U.S. Justice Department tried for years to strip Breyer of his citizenship and deport him, in a case reminiscent of John Demjanjuk, a Cleveland-area autoworker who was deported for lying about his service on his citizenship application.

A German office that investigates alleged former Nazis has asked prosecutors to charge Breyer with being an accessory to murder for the killing of some 344,000 Jews at Auschwitz. The office has called on prosecutors to extradite him to Germany to face trial, according to the AP.

Breyer told a U.S. court that he was an Auschwitz perimeter guard, but denied serving in the area of the death camp. He said he deserted in August 1944, which U.S. Army intelligence disputes, the AP reported.

In 2003, a U.S. court ruled that Breyer could remain in the United States because he joined the SS as a minor and could not be held legally responsible for his participation, according to the AP.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT