A former SS guard charged with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder at Auschwitz has been judged fit to stand trial next year.
Oskar Groening, 93, claims he only witnesses atrocities at the Nazi death camp and did not commit any crimes himself.
But today the Lueneburg state court ruled there was enough evidence to proceed with the trial after a review of the prosecution's case against him.
He is the only one among a group of former guards dubbed the "dirty dozen" who will face criminal proceedings.
Prosecutors say Groening helped the Nazi regime benefit economically and supported systematic killings in his job by dealing with the belongings stolen from camp victims.
Nearly 50 Holocaust survivors or victims' families have joined the case as co-plaintiffs.
More than 1.2million people are estimated to have died at Auschwitz between September 1942 and October 1944.
A trial date has not yet been set but Groening is expected to take the stand in spring next year.
The charges against him relate to the period May-July 1944, when almost half a million people were transported to the camp.
