COPENHAGEN, Denmark — An elderly Dane accused of being involved in the mass murder of Jews in Belarus during World War II will not be prosecuted, Danish authorities said Friday, saying they have “not found evidence he committed or took part in the killings.”
The probe had been “very thorough” but evidence against 91-year-old Helmuth Leif Rasmussen was “limited,” chief prosecutor Steen Bechmann Jacobsen said.
“To be prosecuted for participation in mass killings requires a closer connection to the crime itself. You do not prosecute a known burglar for lots of burglaries in a neighborhood simply because he was in the area at the time of break-ins. You need evidence,” he said.
“This is a very sad day,” said Ephraim Zuroff , head of the Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Center.
He sa i d R a s m u ss e n “must be happy; the relatives of the victims are not.”
In July 2015, Zuroff asked police to investigate the case after Denmark’s Justice Ministry turned down a similar request saying it was not their matter.
He believed there was a strong case against Rasmussen because of documents found by Danish historians that said he was in the inner circle of the camp run by the Waffen SS where 1,400 Jews died.
“To us [Rasmussen] was part of the operation. That should have been enough to convict him for accessory to murder, Zuroff said.
Bechmann Jacobsen said the 15-month investigation included “pretty good” documents at the Danish National Archives that stores historic sources, but not enough evidence.
“We have the same requirements for evidence, whether the matter is one hour old or 73 years old,” he said, adding that Rasmussen was in the camp from late 1942 to early 1943.