Summary
A German court ruled that 100-year-old former Nazi guard Gregor Formanek can stand trial for aiding 3,322 murders at Sachsenhausen concentration camp (1943–1945).
The decision overturns a lower court’s ruling that deemed Formanek unfit for trial due to insufficient psychiatric evaluation.
Germany has intensified efforts to prosecute remaining Nazi war criminals since a 2011 precedent allowed convictions without proof of direct killings.
Time is critical, as many suspects have died or become unfit for trial, leaving historical accountability as an urgent priority.
The purpose of penal rulings is to dissuade repeats of those actions, as other know they can be held accountable. It’s still a good precident to go after them. Sure, they won’t suffer much, but it shows to others who may want to follow in their footsteps that we will try to punish them if we can. If a new fascist group rises that wants to do the same thing, people will have to consider that, if they fail, they will be held accountable.
The problem is nobody who expects to fail will go trhough it in the first place - that’s why penal rulings never work to prevent future crime. The only way to prevent future crime is to fix their causes.