A former SS guard died a week before he was scheduled to go on trial for his alleged role in the murder of more than 1,000 people at the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Ernest Tremmel’s death was announced Thursday. Tremmel, 93, was scheduled to go on trial in Hanau, Germany, on April 13. He was a member of the Auschwitz SS guard team from November 1942 to June 1943.
According to EFE Agency, Tremmel is believed to have died two days ago of natural causes.
Two other men and one woman in their 90s are accused of being accessories to the murder of hundreds of thousands of people at Auschwitz.
Two others — former paramedic Hubert Zafke, 95, and former guard Reinhold Hanning, 94 — are currently on trial.
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A 92-year-old woman who worked as a radio operator at Auschwitz is also expected to go on trial soon, but no date has been announced yet. She is accused of being an accessory to the murder of 260,000 people.
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