Appeal dismissed – prison sentence for former concentration camp secretary (99) confirmed

The regional court of Itzehoe had sentenced Irmgard F. to a two-year suspended juvenile sentence for complicity in murder in 10,505 cases and attempted murder in five cases (see video above). The woman worked as a typist in the Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig between June 1943 and April 1945. She was 18 or 19 years old at the time. Through her work, Irmgard F. helped those responsible for the concentration camp to systematically murder prisoners, the court ruled.

accomplice to murder
Supportive activities can also be interpreted legally as complicity in murder. The defense appealed. The lawyers wondered, among other things, whether it could be proven that the woman had acted deliberately. It has therefore not been proven that she really knew what was happening in the camp. Moreover, her work as a typist was not essentially different from her previous job at a bank.

“Neutral actions”
From their perspective, the actions may have been “neutral.” However, the federal judges did not accept this argument and rejected the objection. Irmgard F. had provided psychological assistance during the murders, and almost all of the camp’s correspondence had gone through the typist’s office.

With this verdict, the sentence – two years in prison – is final. Between 1939 and 1945, approximately 110,000 people from 28 countries were imprisoned in the Stutthof concentration camp and its 39 subcamps. Almost 65,000 of them did not survive their captivity.