Former Auschwitz Bookkeeper Oskar Groening Sentenced To Four Years In Prison

The former ‘Bookkeeper of Auschwitz’ has today been sentenced to four years in prison. Oskar Groening said he was very sorry for the time he was stationed at the Nazi concentration camp – but had his attempts for a final acquittal rejected. Groening served as bookkeeper at Auschwitz, sorting and counting the money taken from those killed or used as slave labour. He also collected the various European currencies being collected for the Nazi company, shipping all money to Berlin. The former SS officer told the court: “No one should have taken part in Auschwitz. “I know that. I sincerely regret not having lived up to this realisation earlier and more consistently. I am very sorry.” Judge Franz Kompisch said "the defendant is found guilty of accessory to murder in 300,000 legally connected cases’ of deported Jews who were sent to the gas chambers in 1944." Groening previously testified to being horrified by the crimes he witnessed, appealing for three transfers to the front before being granted his final request in Autumn 1944. Some court spectators were surprised at the sentencing, noting Groening’s age and frailty.