BERLIN, May 6 (UPI) — A 93-year-old German man was arrested Monday, suspected of committing war crimes while a Nazi death camp guard during World War II.
Authorities who took Hans Lipschis into custody in southern Germany where he lived, said there was “compelling evidence” he was guilty of committing war crimes while he served in an SS unit at Auschwitz, the London newspaper Mirror reported.
Lipschis maintains he was only a cook while stationed at the concentration camp from 1941-45.
Lipschis had emigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago, but was deported in 1983 for lying about his Nazi past. He evaded prosecution until changes in German law allowed for authorities to charge suspects on the basis that the Nazi death camps’ sole function was to kill.
“We welcome Lipschis’ arrest. I hope this will be the first of many,” Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said.
Britain’s Sky News reported prosecutor Claudia Krauth said bringing formal charges would take another two months.
The broadcaster said a doctor has confirmed Lipschis’ health is good enough for him to be kept in detention.
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