DETMOLD, Germany (AP) — A 94-year-old former SS sergeant plans to make his first statement to a German court since his trial opened in February on 170,000 counts of accessory to murder over allegations he served as a guard at the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp.

 

Auschwitz survivors who have testified at the Detmold state court trial have implored defendant Reinhold Hanning to tell his story, and his attorney said he would make a statement Friday.

 

According to the indictment, Hanning admitted to investigators he served as an Auschwitz guard from January 1942 to June 1944, but maintained he didn't serve in the areas where mass executions took place, and wasn't personally involved.

 

Prosecutors argue that as a guard, he helped the death camp function so he can be found guilty of accessory to murder.