Lawyers for 96-year-old Oskar Groening submitted a clemency appeal to prosecutors almost three years after he was sentenced to four years behind bars.
Groening did not murder any prisoners at the notorious death camp but was responsible for funnelling back to Germany cash and valuables stolen from victims.
The “enthusiastic” Waffen SS recruit was found guilty of facilitating mass murder after a trial in 2015. Groening, who admitted “moral guilt” but denied legal culpability, avoided immediate jail by appealing on the grounds of ill-health.
Yesterday, justice officials in Lower Saxony said that he has applied for clemency and the appeal has been passed on to the prosecutors.
At Groening’s trial, he was linked as an accessory to the murder of 300,000 prisoners.
One survivor, 86-year-old Kathleen Zahavi, said during the trial that she had lost 100 family members.
Mrs Zahavi, who was originally from Hungary but now lives in Canada, told Groening: “I hope the images of what went on stay with you for the rest of your days.”