German Court Tosses 1944 Nazi Massacre Case Against 89-Year-Old
A German court has thrown out a case against a Cologne man for his alleged involvement in the June 1944 massacre of hundreds of civilians in France.
Named only as Werner C., the 89-year-old defendant was charged by the prosecutor in the western German city of Dortmund with gunning down 25 civilians in Oradour-sur-Glane along with other members of his SS tank infantry unit called Der Fuhrer.
In all, 642 village residents were murdered. More than half were women and children locked into a church that was set ablaze. The defendant reportedly also was charged as an accessory in the church massacre by cordoning off and guarding the church or by bringing flammable material inside.
A Cologne state court threw out the case saying there was not enough evidence to connect him to the massacre, the Associated Press reported.
Werner C. has said he was in the village at the time but did not take part in the killings.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30