Nazi killer sentenced to life
Source: Agencies |
March 24, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A GERMAN court yesterday convicted an 88-year-old man of murdering three Dutch civilians as part of a Nazi hit squad during World War II, capping six decades of efforts to bring the former Waffen SS man to justice.
Heinrich Boere, No. 6 on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of most-wanted Nazis, was given the maximum sentence of life in prison for the 1944 killings. "These were murders that could hardly be outdone in terms of baseness and cowardice - beyond the respectability of any soldier," presiding judge Gerd Nohl said.
Boere, sitting in his wheelchair, showed no reaction as the verdict was announced.
During the trial, which began in October, Boere admitted killing a bicycle shop owner, a pharmacist and another civilian in 1944 as a member of the "Silbertanne" hit squad - a unit of largely Dutch SS volunteers responsible for reprisal killings of their countrymen.
He said he had no choice but to follow orders to carry out the killings. But the prosecution argued that Boere was a willing member of the fanatical Waffen SS, which he joined shortly after the Nazis had overrun the Netherlands in 1940. Boere will remain free until the appeals process is complete.
Heinrich Boere, No. 6 on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of most-wanted Nazis, was given the maximum sentence of life in prison for the 1944 killings. "These were murders that could hardly be outdone in terms of baseness and cowardice - beyond the respectability of any soldier," presiding judge Gerd Nohl said.
Boere, sitting in his wheelchair, showed no reaction as the verdict was announced.
During the trial, which began in October, Boere admitted killing a bicycle shop owner, a pharmacist and another civilian in 1944 as a member of the "Silbertanne" hit squad - a unit of largely Dutch SS volunteers responsible for reprisal killings of their countrymen.
He said he had no choice but to follow orders to carry out the killings. But the prosecution argued that Boere was a willing member of the fanatical Waffen SS, which he joined shortly after the Nazis had overrun the Netherlands in 1940. Boere will remain free until the appeals process is complete.
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