Nazi, 92, on trial for Second World War murder charge
A 92-YEAR-OLD former SS officer appeared in court yesterday accused of murdering a Dutch resistance fighter after taking him prisoner towards the end of the Second World War.
Dutch-born Siert Bruins is said to have shot Aldert Klaas Dijkema in cold blood while stationed near the border of Holland and Germany in September 1944.
He is accused of shooting him four times in the back after allowing him to relieve himself at a roadside. He covered up by claiming Dijkema was killed trying to escape, it is alleged.
Yesterday Bruins, who faces life in jail, stood impassive in the dock at Hagen, near Dortmund.
He spoke only once to confirm he volunteered for the Waffen SS. He is one of 30,000 Dutch wartime Nazi collaborators.