Germany charges 96-year-old former SS-soldier for denying holocaust

Karl Munter claimed those killed in Ascq massacre were responsible for own deaths

A commemorative plaque in Ascq, northern France, reminding of the 2 April, 1944, massacre of 86 civilians by an SS regiment (DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images)

A former SS soldier has been charged in Germany under hate speech and Holocaust denial laws

Karl Munter confessed to being involved in a massacre of 86 civilians in the town of Ascq in northern France in April 1944, although he denied shooting the victims.

The 96-year-old was sentenced to death in absentia by a French court in 1949, but was pardoned in 1955.

In an interview with German broadcaster ARD last year, he said those killed in Ascq were responsible for their own deaths.

He also denied the Holocaust took place – which is a crime in Germany.

SS officers carried out the massacre in the town of Ascq after the French resistance derailed their train with explosives.

Mr Munter, who was 21 at the time, was one of 50 soldiers in the “Hitler Youth” division who took revenge by killing 86 civilians in the nearby town.

The youngest victim was 15.

Mr Munter will not face trial for the Ascq due to his prior conviction in France under the European Union’s double jeopardy rules.

However, he could face up to five years in jail if convicted of hate speech and two years if convicted of Holocaust denial.