Former Nazi secretary, 97, found guilty in connection with 10,000 Holocaust murders

A former secretary for the Nazis during World War II was found guilty this week of complicity in the murder of over 10,000 people, a ruling that may represent one of the last trials of war criminals from Germany's Third Reich era. 

Irmgard Furchner, 97 years old, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence for the work she performed at the Stutthof prison camp from 1943-1945. 

Furchner was tried as a juvenile since she was younger than 21 during her time at the camp. Presiding Judge Dominik Gross rejected her claims that she had been unaware of the killings taking place at the Polish concentration camp while working there. 

Stutthof was not among the network of camps established specifically for murder and genocide against targets of the German Nazis. Yet upwards of 65,000 prisoners are alleged to have died and/or been murdered there due to outright homicide, starvation and brutal working conditions. 

Earlier this month Furchner openly apologized for the administrative work she performed at the camp. 

“I’m sorry for everything that happened,” she said during the trial. “I regret that I was at Stutthof at that time.”