PHILADELPHIA — An 89-year-old Philadelphia man has been ordered held without bail on a German arrest warrant charging him with aiding and abetting the killing of 216,000 Jewish men, women and children while he was a guard at the Auschwitz death camp.
The man, retired toolmaker Johann “Hans” Breyer, was taken into custody by U.S. authorities Tuesday.
His attorney argued in court Wednesday that his client is too frail to be detained, but prosecutors say the detention center is equipped care for him.
Breyer has admitted he was an Auschwitz guard during World War II but has said he was stationed outside and had nothing to do with the slaughter of about 1.5 million Jews and others there.
The German investigation comes after years of failed U.S. efforts to have Breyer stripped of his American citizenship and deported.