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[Leon Schwarzbaum, a 95-year-old Auschwitz survivor from Berlin who was used as slave labourer to help build a factory for Siemens outside the camp, told the court at the start of the trial that he regularly saw flames belching from the chimneys of the Auschwitz crematorium."So much fire came out of the chimneys, no smoke, just fire," he told the court. "And that was burning people."]

http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/auschwitz-guard-94-convicted-of-being-an-accessory-to-130000-deaths-during-wwii/news-story/33ec76c3b50885c05acded63e10f4ea3

A 94-year-old former SS sergeant who served as a guard at Auschwitz has been found guilty of more than 170,000 counts of accessory to murder for helping kill 1.1 million Jews and others at the Nazi death camp.


The Detmold state court sentenced Reinhold Hanning to five years in prison, though he will remain free while any appeals are heard.

During his four-month trial, Hanning admitted serving as an Auschwitz guard. He said he was ashamed that he was aware Jews were being killed but did nothing to try to stop it.



"It disturbs me deeply that I was part of such a criminal organisation," he told the court in April. "I am ashamed that I saw injustice and never did anything about it and I apologise for my actions."

Despite his age, Hanning has seemed alert during the four-month trial, paying attention to testimony and occasionally walking in to the courtroom on his own, though usually using a wheelchair.

Several equally elderly Auschwitz survivors testified at the trial about their own experiences, and were among about 40 survivors or their families who joined the process as co-plaintiffs as allowed under German law.

Leon Schwarzbaum, a 95-year-old Auschwitz survivor from Berlin who was used as slave labourer to help build a factory for Siemens outside the camp, told the court at the start of the trial that he regularly saw flames belching from the chimneys of the Auschwitz crematorium.

"So much fire came out of the chimneys, no smoke, just fire," he told the court. "And that was burning people."

Schwarzbaum later said he does not want Hanning to go to prison and is happy that he apologised, but had hoped that he would have provided more details about his time in Auschwitz for the sake of educating younger generations.


"The historical truth is important," Schwarzbaum said.

Hanning joined the Hitler Youth with his class in 1935 at age 13, then volunteered at 18 for the Waffen SS in 1940 at the urging of his stepmother. He fought in several battles in World War II before being hit by grenade splinters in his head and leg during close combat in Kiev in 1941.

He told the court that as he was recovering from his wounds he asked to be sent back but his commander decided he was no longer fit for frontline duty, and so sent him to Auschwitz, without his knowing what it was.

Though there is no evidence Hanning was responsible for a specific crime, he was tried under new legal reasoning that as a guard he helped the death camp operate, and thus could be tried for accessory to murder. Though the indictment against Hanning is focused on a period between January 1943 and June 1944 for legal reasons, the court has said it would consider the full time he served there.

The same argumentation being used in Hanning's case was used successfully last year against SS sergeant Oskar Groening, to convict him of 300,000 counts of accessory to murder for serving in Auschwitz. Germany's highest appeals court is expected to rule on the validity of the Groening verdict sometime this summer.

Groening, 95, was sentenced to four years in prison but will remain free while his case goes through the lengthy appeals process and is unlikely to spend any time behind bars, given his age.

In Hanning's case, prosecutor Andreas Brendel recommended six years in prison while his defence attorneys argued for an acquittal, rejecting the new legal reasoning.


Interesting how they say they saw fires coming out of a chimney in Aushwitz. In Dr Fredrick Töben's docco "Judea declares war on Germany" He shows an air raid shelter with a chimney that wasn't even connected.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/man-45-allegedly-attacks-mother-with-an-axe-and-hits-father-with-sledge-hammer-in-alice-springs/news-story/eec3aef0f78f78b95898b93c0e1e0385

A man has allegedly attacked his mother and father with an axe and sledgehammer in a horrific assault in Alice Springs.

The 60-year-old woman suffered broken bones in her arm, elbow and shoulder and a cut to the head from the alleged assault by her 45-year-old son.

Territory Duty Superintendent Brendan Muldoon said the husband attempted to intervene in the attack and was allegedly struck with a sledgehammer.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/uk-labour-mp-jo-cox-shot-stabbed-in-leeds/news-story/c5b6e4106e219b7b40889b22ea70366d

BRITISH Labour politician Jo Cox has died in hospital after being shot and stabbed by a man reportedly shouting 'Britain First' just a week out from the Brexit vote.

Ms Cox, 41, succumbed to her injuries about an hour after the attack, and was pronounced dead at 1:48pm local time (11pm AEST).
"Three times she was shot, the initial time which then she dropped to the floor and two more times," the man said. "The third time he got proximity he shot her round the head area."

"In the meantime he was stabbing her as well, he was stabbing her with his knife," he said.

"He was stabbing her with a foot-long knife multiple times while shouting Britain First, Britain First, Britain First."

Britain First is the name of a right-wing group that describes itself on its website as "a patriotic political party and street defence organisation".

Police say they have a 52-year-old man in custody, who The Sun names as local Tommy Mair, as well as an old fashioned gun and a long knife.

uk-mp-jo-cox-killed-after-man-shot-and-stabbed-her-in-west-yorkshire

Cafe owner Clarke Rothwell told the Press Association the gunman was shouting "put Britain first".

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/three-teens-accused-of-vandalising-54-cars-at-darwin-international-airport-charged-with-333-offences/news-story/a5e4a6b21c1ba8e00115c68791cf0dea

THREE teenagers accused of smashing the windows of more than 50 cars at Darwin International Airport on Tuesday have been arrested.

Strike Force Trident detective Senior Sergeant Mark Bland said the trio had been charged with 333 offences including unlawful entry, damage to property, stealing and trespass.

He said the teens were identified from CCTV footage.

"The youths were also questioned in relation to a number of unlawful entries to businesses between June 9 and 14," he said.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/homeless-sector-asks-nt-government-not-to-abandon-highneeds-public-housing-tenants/news-story/64d9bc4b1b05d3e44a48732b7062f231

THE Government must ensure it doesn't "wash its hands" of high-need public housing tenants, according to the homeless sector.

The NT News revealed on Tuesday the Territory Government would bring in a new policy designed to make it easier to boot unruly tenants from public housing.*boongs*

Under the new rules, all new public housing tenants will complete a six-month probationary period. The policy also introduces a "red card rule", under which tenants who receive six demerit points will be evicted — half the amount of demerit points currently afforded to tenants.

Shelter NT chief executive Tammy White said any move to make it easier to kick tenants out must be accompanied by an increase in funding to the hoThe NT Government increased funding for homelessness services in the May Budget to $21 million, with an extra $2 million over two years for an "innovation fund" to encourage the sector to come up with new ideas.meless sector to deal with the fall-out.

"If you fail in the public housing system you're at the end of the line," she said.