German prosecutors are investigating a 105-year-old man suspected of serving as a guard at Stalag 326 VI K and of being an accessory to multiple murders. The Senne camp held an estimated 180,000–200,000 Soviet POWs from 1941 until liberation in April 1945; memorial records state that 2.3–3 million Soviet captives died overall. The probe comes amid several recent efforts to prosecute alleged former Nazi camp staff, though many suspected defendants are elderly or die before trial.
Germany Investigates 105-Year-Old Over Alleged Role As Guard At Nazi POW Camp
Russian prisoners celebrate being released by U.S. soldiers at German prison camp Stalag 326 VI/K, Germany, February 4, 1945. / Credit: FPG / Getty Images
German prosecutors have opened an investigation into a 105-year-old man suspected of having served as a guard at the World War II prisoner-of-war camp Stalag 326 VI K in the Senne region of western Germany. Authorities say the man is accused of being an accessory to multiple murders through his activities at the camp, prosecutors told AFP on Thursday.
Allegations and Site Background
According to the memorial that stands at the former camp site, Stalag 326 VI K held between 180,000 and 200,000 Soviet prisoners of war from 1941 until American troops liberated the camp in April 1945. The memorial also notes that of roughly 5.3 to 5.7 million Soviet POWs taken into German captivity, between 2.3 and 3 million did not survive.
Conditions for Soviet prisoners included malnutrition, inadequate medical care, poor sanitary conditions, and forced labor, the memorial states.
Related Cases And Legal Context
The report was first published by the Bild newspaper, which said another former guard from the same camp recently became the subject of an inquiry but died before legal proceedings could begin. Prosecutors in Dortmund last year opened a separate investigation into a 100-year-old alleged guard at a different WWII POW camp in Hemer; that suspect was accused of participating in executions carried out between December 1943 and September 1944. Another suspected guard from Hemer was charged in 2023.
In recent years German courts have pursued a number of late-era cases against former camp staff. Notable examples include the 2011 conviction of former Sobibor guard John Demjanjuk, the 2015 conviction of Oskar Groening (the so-called Accountant of Auschwitz) as an accessory to mass murder, and the 2022 sentencing of Josef Schuetz, who died in 2023 at age 102. Prosecutors have relied in some cases on the legal theory that service at camps that facilitated mass murder can amount to accessory liability even where no direct killing by the defendant can be proven.
Observers note a practical challenge for justice: more than eight decades after the war, many potential defendants are extremely elderly or die before they can be tried. For example, an alleged former guard at Sachsenhausen died in April 2025 before facing trial on charges of complicity in the murder of thousands.
Ongoing Investigation
Prosecutors have not publicly disclosed further identifying details about the 105-year-old suspect while the inquiry is under way. The investigation underscores Germany's continued efforts to pursue wartime crimes even as the number of surviving suspects dwindles.
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