Prosecutors in Germany have charged an 88-year old man with involvement in the murders of 642 people in Central France in 1944, one of the most infamous examples of nazi barbarism in World War II.

General Charles de Gaulle once the events should be remembered as a reminder of the cruelty of the Nazi occupiers.  German troops herded people into a church in Oradour-sur-Glane, and tossed in several hand grenades before setting it on fire. Most of the victims were women and children.  The men had been locked in a barn.  Machine-gunners shot at their legs, then doused them in petrol and set them alight. France preserved the ruins of the village just as they are, to show the world what happened.

Prosecutors in Germany released a statement that read, “The prosecutor's office in Dortmund has charged an 88-year-old from Cologne over the murder of 25 people committed by a group, and with aiding and abetting the murder of several hundred people.”

The suspect is identified as Werner C, who was a 19-year old member of an SS armored division at the time.  His lawyer says Werner did not take part in the massacre.

Meanwhile, a 92-year old former nazi might just have gotten away with his crime.  Charges of murdering a Dutch resistance fighter have been dropped against Siert Bruins, because after seven decades, too much evidence had been lost.