Irmgard Furchner

Stutthof concentration camp personnel (born 1925)

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Heinz Furchtsam

(died 1972)

Conviction(s)Accessory to murder (11,412 counts)
Accessory to attempted murder (18 counts)Criminal penaltyTwo-year suspended jail term

Irmgard Furchner (née Dirksen; 29 May 1925) is a German war criminal. She is a former concentration camp secretary and stenographer at the Stutthof concentration camp, where she worked for camp commandant Paul-Werner Hoppe.^[2] In 2021, at the age of 96, she was charged with 11,412 counts of accessory to murder and 18 additional counts of accessory to attempted murder,^[3]^[4]^[5] and in December 2022, she was found guilty and sentenced to a suspended jail term of two years.^[6]^[7] This conviction would also later be upheld by the German Federal Court of Justice in August 2024.^[8]^[9]

Trial

Furchner's trial was held in a juvenile court in Itzehoe, as Furchner was only 18 years old at the time of the alleged offenses. She had worked at the camp between June 1943 and April 1945.^[10] She had announced in advance that she did not wish to appear in court and asked the judge not to expect her to do so; indicating in a letter that she would boycott her trial as "degrading". In a criminal trial, however, the presence of the accused is essential.^[4]

In February 2021, German prosecutors would charge Furchner with at least 10,000 counts of accessory to murder.^[11] Upon being charged, Furchner acknowledged that she had worked as the secretary to SS officer Paul Werner Hoppe in Stutthof, though she still denied ever setting foot in the camp or knowing of the murders which took place there.^[11] At the end of September 2021, a few hours before the start of her trial, she left the Quickborn retirement home where she resided and took a cab to the Norderstedt Mitte subway station. The president of the criminal chamber subsequently issued a warrant for her arrest; Furchner was quickly captured and arrested.^[12]^[13]^[14] Five days later, she was released from pretrial detention under conditions. The trial was postponed until 19 October 2021.^[15]^[16] Towards the end of the trial, Furchner stated "I'm sorry for everything that happened. I regret that I was in Stutthof at the time. I can't say anything else."^[10]

On 20 December 2022, Furchner was found guilty of complicity in the murders of more than 10,500 people and sentenced to a two-year suspended jail term.^[17] On 20 August 2024, the German Federal Court of Justice upheld Furchner's conviction.^[18]

Personal life

Following the end of World War II, Furchner married Heinz Furchstam (a former SS squad leader who died in 1972). She was later employed as an administrative worker in northern Germany.^[17]

References

^ Sommerlad, Joe (28 October 2021). "Irmgard Furchner: The 96-year-old alleged Nazi war criminal on trial in Germany". The Independent.
^ "Nazi Stutthof camp secretary flees as German trial starts". BBC. 30 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
^ Connolly, Kate (19 October 2021). "Former Nazi camp secretary goes on trial over murders of 11,000 people". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Nazi Stutthof camp secretary flees as German trial starts". BBC News. 30 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
^ Jüttner, Julia (30 September 2021). "Itzehoe: Ehemalige KZ-Sekretärin vor Prozessbeginn geflohen". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
^ "Imrgard Furchner: Nazi typist guilty of complicity in 10,505 murders". BBC News. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
^ "97-year-old former Nazi secretary sentenced for involvement in more than 10,000 murders". CNN. 20 December 2022.
^ von Richtfofen, Luisa (20 August 2024). "German court upholds ex-Nazi camp secretary conviction". Duetsche Welle. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "Court upholds 99-year-old Nazi camp worker's murder conviction". Reuters. 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b "German court convicts ex-Nazi camp secretary". Deutsche Welle. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b Rising, David (5 February 2021). "German prosecutors charge secretary to Nazi camp commandant". Associated Press. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ Connolly, Kate (30 September 2021). "Ex-Nazi concentration camp secretary, 96, caught after fleeing before trial". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
^ Bronst, Sebastian (19 October 2021). "Prosecution at trial of Nazi camp secretary: Gas chamber cries 'clearly audible'". www.timesofisrael.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
^ Schuetze, Christopher F. (30 September 2021). "German Police Arrest 96-Year-Old Nazi Suspect Who Tried to Skip Court". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
^ Sommerlad, Joe (27 October 2021). "The 96-year-old alleged Nazi war criminal on trial in Germany". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
^ Connolly, Kate (19 October 2021). "Former Nazi camp secretary who fled trial appears in court". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b Kirby, Paul; Greenall, Robert (20 December 2022). "Irmgard Furchner: Nazi typist guilty of complicity in 10,500 murders". BBC News. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
^ Moulson, Geir (20 August 2024). "A German court upholds the conviction of a former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp, age 99". Associated Press. Retrieved 20 August 2024.