Former Auschwitz guard charged with accessory to murder

BERLIN — A 94-year-old former SS guard at the Auschwitz death camp has been charged as an accessory to murder, German prosecutors said Monday.

The suspect is a German national born in Serbia whom they didn't identify by name. He was charged as a juvenile because he was 19 at the time of the alleged offenses.

Authorities say he served as a guard at Auschwitz in late 1942 and early 1943 and estimate that 13,335 people were sent to the gas chambers during that time.

According to prosecutors, the suspect has said via his lawyer that he wasn't aware of the background and aims of what was happening, or of details of the killings.

The suspect was charged on the premise that he helped the camp function.