'Bookkeeper of Auschwitz' fit for prison, say German prosecutors

A medical examination showed a96-year-old German known as the "bookkeeper of Auschwitz" wasfit to start serving his prison sentence, German prosecutorssaid on Wednesday, but his lawyer said a court should decidewhether he'swell enough.

OskarGroeningwas sentenced to four years in prison in 2015for his role in the murder of 300,000 people at the Nazi deathcamp Auschwitz in what was seen as one of the last majorHolocaust trials.

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He has not yet begun serving his sentence because his lawyerappealed the verdict. In November, Germany's Federal Supreme Court upheld the 2015 ruling,and it has since taken timefor the files to be transferred back, said Kathrin Soefker, aspokesperson for prosecutors in Hanover.

'Fit for prison'

Prosecutors have rejected Groening's request for a reprieveafter a medical assessment determined he was fit for detention,she said.

"After getting an official medical opinion we assume Mr.Groening is able to go to prison," Soefker said.

"A 96-year-old has physical constraints but if he can getappropriate medical and nursing care in a prison or correctionalfacility, he is fit for prison," she added.

But Groening's lawyer, Hans Holtermann, told Reuters he didnot think Groening could survive imprisonment.

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"We will apply for a decision to be made by the court,"Holtermann said.

"We think a sensible assessment (of Groening's health)should have been carried out and that has not happened yet," hesaid.

Fervent Nazi supporter

Groening, who is physically frail, has said he was anenthusiastic Nazi when he was sent to work at Auschwitz in 1942,at the age of 21.

During his time at Auschwitz, Groening's job was to collect the belongings of deportees after they arrived at the camp by train and had been put through a selection process that resulted in many being sent directly to the gas chambers.

In 2015 prosecutors argued that although Groening did notkill anyone himself while working at Auschwitz, in Nazi-occupiedPoland, he helped support the regime responsible for mass murderby sorting bank notes seized from trainloads of arriving Jews.