Denmark again closes probe into Nazi criminals

Denmark’s chief prosecutor claims there is insufficient evidence to prove that two Danish citizens were involved in mass killings during the Holocaust. 

Two elderly Danes will not be prosecuted because of alleged lack of evidence linking them to the mass murder of Jews in Belarus during the Holocaust.

One of the suspects is Helmuth Leif Rasmussen, 91. He was sentenced after World War II to six years’ imprisonment for having served as a soldier for Nazi Germany.

Now known by the name Rasboel, Rasmussen admitted being among the 6,000 Danish volunteers who joined the Waffen SS after Germany invaded the country in 1940.

Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Ahsan said Tuesday he found no evidence for active or passive participation in the killings after the Simon Wiesenthal Center appealed a similar decision in November.

In 2015, the center asked Danish police to investigate the case after Denmark’s Justice Ministry had turned down a similar request, saying it was not their responsibility.

Ephraim Zuroff, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s office in Jerusalem, believes there was a strong case against the the suspects because of documents found by Danish historians showing they were in the Waffen SS-run camp where 1,400 Jews were murdered.

“This is a very sad day,” Zuroff said in November. While Rasmussen “must be happy, the relatives of the victims are not.”

By: AP and World Israel News Staff

DenmarkHolocaustSimon Wiesenthal CenterSSWWIIZuroff