A former guard of a German concentration camp was transferred to Germany after a stay of more than 60 years in the United States. Friedrich Karl Berger, a 95-year-old German, was a camp guard in 1945 at an outer camp of Neuengamme concentration camp, southeast of Hamburg.
According to intended Attorney General Wilkinson, the deportation shows that the US is not a free port for those involved in Nazi crimes and other human rights violations. “This case shows that even after many decades, we do not shy away from pursuing justice for the victims of the Nazis.”
‘No wrongs seen’
Berger had lived in the US since 1959. The US Department of Justice has investigated his role and he has confirmed to the US authorities that towards the end of World War II he worked for several weeks in the outer camp at Meppen, near the border with the Netherlands. In his own words, he did not see any wrongdoing or murders at the time.
Berger said he saw to it that people did not escape the camp. He also confessed that he was involved in the evacuation of the camp in 1945. At least 70 prisoners were killed.
Approximately 106,000 people were imprisoned in Neuengamme. About 55,000 prisoners did not survive the stay. More than 5,500 Dutch people were deported to camp Neuengamme. Only 600 of them returned after the war.
A US court ruled last year that Berger should be deported after an investigation had started in the German city of Celle into his involvement in the deaths of inmates in the outer camp. Last December, prosecutors in Germany dropped the case against him because they had insufficient evidence to refute Berger’s story.
Free man in Germany
The German prosecutor has asked the police in the state of Hesse to question Berger after his arrival at Frankfurt airport. This will have to be done voluntarily: a police spokesman says that there is currently no investigation against the former camp guard and that he is “a free individual”.
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