A German court on Tuesday threw out the case of a former SS man accused of involvement in the largest civilian massacre in Nazi-occupied France, saying there was not enough evidence to bring the 89-year-old to trial, reports FRANCE 24.
Cologne resident Werner C., whose last name has not been revealed in accordance with German privacy laws, was charged with murder and accessory to murder in connection with the 1944 slaughter in Oradour-sur-Glane in southwestern France.
The accused, who was then 19, had acknowledged that he was in Oradour-sur-Glane at the time and a member of the SS but disputed any involvement in the murders.
The male victims were mowed down with machine guns in a barn, with any survivors shot at close range with pistols before the barn was set ablaze.
Prosecutors had said that the accused then went to the village church where several hundred women and children were being held prisoner.