Furchner’s protracted trial is emblematic of Germany’s ongoing effort to reconcile the harrowing legacy of the Holocaust. Orchestrated by Adolf Hitler, the reign of terror saw the murder of at least 6 million Jews, as well as 5 million Poles, Soviet civilians and POWs, Roma, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Afro Germans.
In June, the Neuruppin Regional Court sentenced Josef Schütz, 101, to five years in prison for his role in the deaths of over 3,000 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp.