A 96-year-old former Nazi concentration camp secretary who absconded before her trial was set to begin is due to appear in court in Germany.
The first woman to be prosecuted for Nazi-era crimes in decades, Irmgard Furchner is charged with complicity in the murder of more than 10,000 people at Stutthof camp in occupied Poland.
However, an arrest warrant was issued by the court in the northern town of Itzehoe after Furchner left the retirement home where she lives on September 30, as her trial was set to begin, and headed to a metro station.
The pensioner managed to evade police for several hours before being apprehended in the nearby city of Hamburg and temporarily held in custody by authorities.
Furchner was released five days later “under the condition of precautionary measures,” said court spokeswoman Frederike Milhoffer, adding that it was “assured that she (Furchner) will appear at the next appointment.”
According to media reports, the accused has been fitted with an electronic tag to monitor her whereabouts.
Prosecutors are investigating another eight cases, according to the Central Office for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes.
In recent years, several cases have been abandoned as the accused died or were physically unable to stand trial.
