Auschwitz guard, 89, living in US faces extradition

A former Auschwitz guard who has lived in the US since 1952 is in custody facing possible extradition to Germany after being accused of helping to kill 216,000 Jewish men, women, and children at the Nazi death camp.

Johann ‘Hans’ Breyer, 89, from Philadelphia is being held without bail after being arrested outside his home hours after a court in Weiden, Germany, issued a warrant charging him with 158 counts of complicity in the commission of murder.

Each count represents a trainload of Nazi prisoners from Hungary, Germany, and Czechoslovakia who were killed between May and October 1944.

Lawyer Dennis Boyle argued at a federal court in Philadelphia that Breyer was too infirm to be detained pending his August 21 extradition hearing.

Breyer, wearing a prison-issued jumpsuit, appeared frail and carried a cane as he was helped to his seat. He has mild dementia and heart issues and has previously suffered strokes, Boyle said.

“Mr Breyer is not a threat to anyone,” he said “He’s not a flight risk.”

But Judge Timothy Rice ruled that the detention centre was medically equipped to care for Breyer.

He has been under investigation for years by prosecutors in the Bavarian town of Weiden, near where he last lived in Germany.

Breyer has admitted he was a guard at Auschwitz, but said he was stationed outside the death camp part of the complex. He denied having anything to do with the slaughter of about 1.5m Jews and others.

“I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t rape anybody — and I don’t even have a traffic ticket here,” he said in 2012. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”