Examiner: Former Nazi commander ‘took part in massacres’

AN 88-YEAR-OLD former Nazi commander was actively involved in massacres of Slovak civilians at the end of World War II, a prosecutor said yesterday in closing arguments at his Munich trial. Captain Ladislav Niznansky, who has been on trial for 14 months, faces a possible life sentence if convicted of 164 counts of murder in three massacres in early 1945 after a failed uprising against Slovakia’s Nazi puppet government. A former Slovak army captain, who at first supported the revolt, Niznansky changed sides after his capture and took charge of the Slovak section of a Nazi unit code-named Edelweiss that hunted resistance fighters and Jews, prosecutor Konstantin Kuchenbauer said. Though Niznansky has said he was forced into Edelweiss and did not actively participate in its actions, Mr Kuchenbauer pointed out that the defendant earned an Iron Cross 1st Class medal. siehe auch: Trial of ex-Nazi officer in final phase. An 88-year-old former Nazi SS commander was actively involved in wartime atrocities that included the massacre of civilians at the end of Second World War, a prosecutor said Monday in closing arguments at the man's trial.