Ex-Secretary From Nazi Death Camp Released From Custody Ahead of Her Trial

A spokeswoman for the court reportedly insisted that the defendant will appear at the next appointed hearing.

Irmgard Furchner, a 96-year-old former secretary at a WWII Nazi death camp, has been released from custody after she made an apparent attempt to flee.

According to The Daily Mail, Furchner ended up in custody after being declared “on the run” when she failed to turn up in court on Thursday for the opening of her trial.

On that day, Furchner went missing after she left her retirement home near Hamburg in a taxi that took her to a local train station.

The police apprehended Furchner several hours later and put her in custody where she remained for five days. On Tuesday, however, the court in Itzehoe decided to release her under what the newspaper describes as “unspecified conditions.”

“The court has suspended the arrest warrant and released the accused from custody under the condition of precautionary measures,” Court Spokeswoman Frederike Milhoffer said.

While Milhoffer declined to elaborate on the conditions of Furchner’s release, the spokeswoman said that “it is however assured that she will appear at the next appointment."

Furchner is being accused of assisting in the systematic murder of the detainees at the Nazi Stutthof concentration camp where she worked in the camp commander’s office from June 1943 till April 1945.

The trial is expected to resume on 19 October.