Charges of wartime murders and assisting others to commit murders during the German occupation of Poland have been filed against two former SS members, Johann Baecker, 60, and Hans Quambusch, 67, the West Berlin Attorney General’s office announced today. According to the charges, SS units in which the two men were enlisted carried out several mass shootings of Jews. They also are charged with participating in tortures of Jewish women, men and infants. They did this, the charges say, on their own volition.
Prior to being taken into custody in March, 1971, they had been living quietly in obscurity. Baecker was a salesman in Bonn and Quambusch was retired, Baecker, who entered a plea of not guilty, was charged with 72 murders. Quambusch declined to plead, reserving his defense against charges of 35 murders. The trial date was not set.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
