An elderly Nazi SS guard facing prison for his role in the Holocaust apologized for the millions of innocent people who were killed during Adolf Hitler’s reign but denied that he knew the extent of the atrocities at the time.
Bruno Dey, 93, addressed victims of the genocide during a court appearance in Hamburg, Germany, on Monday.
“Today, I would like to apologize to those who went through the hell of this madness, as well as to their relatives. Something like this must never happen again,” Dey said, according to Agence France-Presse.
The remarks come a day before he is expected to be handed down a verdict for alleged complicity in the murder of 5,230 people at Stutthof concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Despite his apology, Dey said that he had only learned about the “extent of the atrocities” after hearing reports from witnesses.
“I would like to stress again that I would never have voluntarily signed up to the SS or any other unit — especially not in a concentration camp,” he said. “If I had seen an opportunity to remove myself from service, I would have done so.”
93-year-old Nazi & genocide enforcer, Bruno Dey, is on trial for 5 230 murders he was allegedly complicit in during the last 2 years of WWII.
He was a young SS guard at Stutthof concentration camp where over 64 000 people were exterminated. pic.twitter.com/HN9tUPwswQ
— Ottilia Anna MaSibanda (@MaS1banda) November 17, 2019
Dey’s trial, which is likely to be one of history’s last for the now-elderly surviving Nazis, was held in juvenile court because he was only 17 when he began working as a guard at the death camp, where up to 65,000 people were killed.
One of the camp’s survivors, Marek Dunin-Wasowicz, also 93, said he does not accept Dey’s apology.
“I’m speechless. I don’t want his apology. I don’t need it,” he said.
Prosecutors are seeking a three-year prison sentence for the former Nazi guard. However, Dey’s lawyer, Stefan Waterkamp, argued that Dey “saw no escape” while serving in the camp and is pushing for his client to receive an acquittal or a suspended sentence. Dey said that the much-publicized trial has “cost a lot of strength.”
Last week, another former Stutthof concentration camp guard was charged with being complicit in the deaths of hundreds.
