A court in Duesseldorf, where a war crimes trial is taking place, has been urged by the prosecution to convict of murder Hermine Ryan, a guard in the Maidanek concentration camp where some 250,000 people died during World War II.
Mrs. Ryan, who married an American after the war and was extradited from the United States to stand trial, took part in the selection of more than 1,000 Jews who were gassed 198 the camp in Poland, the prosecution counsel told the court. The prosecution also said that Mrs. Ryan, who was named “the more” by inmates who said she kicked prisoners with her boots, helped herd at least 100 Jewish children to go chambers.
The prosecution said she should be regarded as a murderer because she not only took part in selecting victims but threw herself actively into the task. Mrs. Ryan and eight other Maidanek guards and SS officers are defendants in the longest war crimes trial in West Germany. It has lasted more than five years.
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