www . AmericanSecurityToday . com February 2021 - Edition 52
( Film by Maurice newbolt entered in 2016-17 CFMC Documentary Competition Courtesy of CFMC
Club and YouTube . Posted on Nov 17 , 2016 .).
Polish civilians .
After a two-day trial in
February
2020 , the presiding judge issued an opinion finding that
Meppen prisoners were held during the winter of 1945 in “ atrocious ” con- ditions and were exploited
for outdoor forced labor ,
working “ to the point of exhaustion and death
.” The court further found , and
Berger admitted he guarded prisoners to prevent them from
escaping during their dawn-to-dusk
work- day , on their way to worksites
and on their way back to the
SS-run subcamp in the evening .
At the end of March 1945 , as
al- lied British and Canadian forces advanced , the Nazis abandoned
Meppen .
The court found that
Berger helped guard the
prisoners during their forcible
evacuation
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