Wiesenthal Center Welcomes Conviction of Irmgard Furchner, Secretary of Stutthof Commandant from July 1943 Until April 1945

December 20, 2022

Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center welcomed the conviction today by a German court of Irmgard Furchner, who served from June 1943 until April 1945 as the secretary of Paul-Werner Hoppe, the commandant of the Stutthof concentration camp near Gdansk in Nazi-occupied Poland.

According to the Center's chief Nazi-hunter, Holocaust historian Dr. Efraim Zuroff:

"Today's verdict is the best that could be achieved, given the fact that she was tried in a juvenile court since she was under the age of 21 during her service in the camp.  "In view of Furchner's recent statement to the court that she 'regretted everything,' we were concerned that the court might accept her defense attorney's plea for an acquittal. Yet given her claim that she had no knowledge of the murders being committed in the camp, her regret was far from convincing."

See Dr. Zuroff's op-ed in The Times of Israel: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/this-cog-in-the-nazi-death-machinery-says-shes-sorry/

For additional information please contact the Israel Office of the Wiesenthal Center: Tel: 972-2-563-1274 or Tel: 972-50-721-4156, follow the Center on Facebook, or @simonwiesenthal and @EZuroff for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.