By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The trial of an 88-year-old former Nazi SS officer charged with murdering Slovak civilians at the end of World War II was entering its final phase Monday as prosecutors prepared to sum up their case.
In one of the last trials of surviving Nazi suspects, prosecutors were also expected to recommend a sentence of up to life in prison for former Capt. Ladislav Niznansky.
Defense attorneys are to respond on Tuesday. It was unclear when the court would announce a verdict.
Niznansky, who has been on trial for 14 months, allegedly headed the Slovak section of a Nazi unit code-named Edelweiss that hunted resistance fighters and Jews during the war. He faces 164 counts of murder in three massacres in early 1945 after a failed uprising against Slovakia's Nazi puppet government.
Prosecutors have said he personally shot at least 20 people and formed a shooting squad to kill 18 Jewish civilians discovered hiding in underground bunkers.
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