Dortmund public prosecutor Sonja Frodermann announced the investigation in a statement, also revealing that a similar case involving a second former guard at the same camp had been ongoing, but that suspect died a few months ago at the age of 99. No further details about either former guard have been made public.
The cases highlight the ongoing difficulties faced by prosecutors investigating Nazi-era crimes, with most remaining suspects already deceased.
Stalag 326 VI K in Senne, northwestern Germany, was one of the largest prisoner of war camps operated by Nazi Germany. According to the memorial site at Senne, one in three Soviet prisoners of war entering Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1945 passed through the complex. Many were sent into forced labour in the wider region.
Living conditions at the camp were horrific, with prisoners subjected to appalling mistreatment and malnutrition. Of the approximately 180,000 to 200,000 Soviet prisoners registered there, many died and tens of thousands are buried at the site. Prisoners from France, Poland, Serbia and Belgium were also held at Senne.
More than 5.3 million soldiers from the Soviet Red Army were held in German captivity during the war, and roughly half are believed to have died. Many of those who survived were treated as traitors upon returning to the Soviet Union.