No Section

Trial session for former Auschwitz guard cancelled due to 93-year-old defendant's poor health

The Associated Press

May 26, 2015 at 2:24PM

Defendant Oskar Groening is led to his seat prior to the court session in his trial on accessory to murder in the court in Lueneburg, northern Germany, Wednesday, May 13, 2015. The former SS sergeant is being tried on 300,000 counts of accessory to murder and faces a possible sentence of three years to 15 years if convicted. Prosecutors argue his role sorting prisoners' stolen valuables, which he admits, helped Auschwitz function. (Associated Press - Ap/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

BERLIN — A German court has cancelled another session in the trial of a 93-year-old former Auschwitz death camp guard due to the former SS sergeant's poor health, and has scheduled new dates through the end of November to accommodate shorter hearings.

The Lueneburg state court said Tuesday that Oskar Groening's trial needed to be extended in order to hear all the evidence while limiting the sessions to three hours at a time. Judges canceled Wednesday's session after hearing testimony Tuesday from an expert witness.

Two other sessions have already been canceled due to Groening's health since the trial began last month.

Groening is charged with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he helped the death camp function in his job sorting cash and valuables seized from Jews