Neo-Nazis gather at trial of Oskar Groening and claim former Auschwitz guard is a 'victim' of German justice system
|
Version 0 of 1. A group of German neo-Nazis gathered at the trial of former Auschwitz guard Oskar Groening in Lueneburg on Tuesday, claiming the 93-year-old is actually a victim himself. Groening faced a courtroom packed with survivors of the Holocaust and their relatives in the town of Lueneburg as he stood accused of 300,000 counts of accessory to murder for his role during the Holocaust The former "Accountant of Auschwitz" has himself testified to being “morally guilty” during his opening statement, but protester Thomas Wulff told Deutsche Welle that Groning was in fact a “victim” in a “late Allied revenge trial”. Wulff, who says he belongs to a “nationalist movement” and has been described in German media as a “Neo-Nazi", said: "There's no defence in this country. [Oskar Groning] was a victim of his time, and now he's a victim of the German justice system. You can write that there are still some Germans at the trial.” German neo-Nazi Thomas Wulff (C) stands in front of the venue Ursula Haverbeck, an 87-year-old woman who has been fined previously for questioning the Holocaust, provoked outrage when she published a YouTube video on Monday condemning the trial. She too appeared at the trial handing out leaflets entitled "Mass-murder in the concentration camp Auschwitz?" The pamphlets reportedly questioned the existence of the Holocaust. Oskar Groening, 93, arrives for the first day of his trial to face A police spokesperson told DW flyers suspected of spreading holocaust denial had been confiscated and an investigation into charges of inciting racial hatred had been launched. Groening testified on Tuesday that he volunteered to join the SS in 1940 after training as a banker and helped collect and record money and belongings stolen from Holocaust victims between May and June 1944. Some 425,000 Jews from Hungary were brought there during this period and at least 300,000 gassed to death. |