Germany's Nazi crime prosecutions near end as few perpetrators remain

Nearly 80 years after the end of World War II, the legal process of prosecuting Nazi war crimes is reaching its final stages, according to Germany's top Nazi war crimes prosecutor.

"We are still finding suspects, but we are proceeding cautiously and have now reached the final stages of Nazi persecution," said Thomas Will, who leads the German government office tasked with investigating Nazi-era crimes, in an interview with the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper released on Sunday.

Will said that the youngest potential perpetrators are now 97 years old, having been 17 years old during the final year of the war in 1945.

The oldest individual convicted by the office was 101 when brought to trial, Will said, adding that with suspects' advanced ages, the office's ability to continue investigations is now limited, leaving only a few years to pursue leads.

While no new specific preliminary investigations are under way, Will said that the possibility of finding new suspects remains.

For each concentration camp, his office has data records on persons who have not yet been located, Will explained. "If we were to find them, we could potentially have dozens of further proceedings, though this is highly improbable at this stage."

According to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, only one national-level indictment remains open. The case involves a man accused of aiding and abetting murder in 3,322 cases at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin.

While a court initially ruled him unfit to stand trial based on expert testimony, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court rejected that decision and ordered further examinations. A judiciary spokesman told the newspaper that a final ruling is not expected in the near future.