Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

92-Year-Old Nazi Guard Denied Bail in Philadelphia

A former Nazi concentration camp guard awaiting extradition to Germany has been denied bail by a U.S. judge in Philadelphia.

Lawyers for Johann Breyer, 89, had sought his release before an Aug. 21 extradition hearing, arguing in court papers he suffered from dementia and other ailments, and continued confinement could speed his deterioration and make it difficult to assist in his defense in Germany.

But federal prosecutors opposed that request, saying Breyer, who was arrested on June 18 and is being held in a ward for elderly and infirm detainees at the Philadelphia’s Federal Detention Center, is regularly checked on by jail staff and has access to regular medical care.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Rice on Wednesday denied bail in a one-page memo because Breyer had failed to show special circumstances required of detainees facing extradition.

German authorities are charging him with aiding and abetting the deaths of 216,000 Jews, a figure arrived at by estimating the survival rate of prisoners packed into 158 trains that arrived at Auschwitz between May and October 1944, according to documents.

Breyer served as an armed guard at Buchenwald before transferring in 1944 to Auschwitz where, according to court documents, he has said he served as a perimeter guard.

The retired tool-and-die maker, born in Czechoslovakia, joined the Waffen SS at age 17. He has argued that he was coerced into joining and was not involved in deaths at the camps. He emigrated to Philadelphia in 1952.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.