In light of the recent conviction of Reinhold Hanning I'm curious how likely he would have been used to help bolster the German guards at the death camps. My understanding of the case is that Hanning says that he was posted only at the labor camp - the prosecution says that they often helped with the unloading of trains at the death camp. How true is this? I read somewhere else that said most of the SS were only at the labor camp and not involved with the death camp operations.
If he is likely NOT to have been involved with the operation of the death camp, are concentration camp guards also found guilty after the war by being part of the camp system?
When large numbers of victims were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau II (the death camp in Auschwitz), a larger number of SS were on hand. This was especially true of cases in which it was expected that the victims might know their final destination.
According to Filip Mueller, a Jewish member of the Somderkommando, a large number of SS would be brought in in these cases. He does not state from where they came, but it could be assumed that they came from the work camp guards.