Auschwitz 60 years on

The SS man at Auschwitz

Oskar Groening, a German then aged 21, was posted to the SS garrison at Auschwitz in 1942 to register prisoners' money. After the war he became a factory head of personnel and employment tribunal judge. Forty years after Auschwitz, he became aware of the existence of Holocaust-deniers, whom he publicly challenged. Persuaded to speak to the BBC, he criticised the SS's methods but admitted 'very ambiguous' feelings about the killing of Jews.

How do you feel, when you're in Russia, here's a machine gun in front of you, and there's a battalion of Russians running towards you and you have to pull the trigger and shoot as many as possible? I'm saying it like this, because there's always behind you the fact that the Jews are enemies who come from the inside of Germany. The propaganda had for us such an effect that you assumed that to exterminate them was basically something that happened in war. And a feeling of sympathy or empathy didn't come up.

The children are not the enemy at the moment. The enemy is the blood in them. The enemy is their growing up to become a Jew who could be dangerous. And because of that the children were also affected.

Auschwitz main camp was like a small town. It had its gossip. It even had a vegetable shop. There was a canteen, a cinema, a theatre... There was a sports club. There were dances - all fun and entertainment. Many who worked there weren't dull, they were intelligent... The special situation at Auschwitz led to friendships which I think back on with joy. I would like you [Holocaust-deniers] to believe me. I saw the gas chambers. I saw the crematoria. I was on the ramp when the selections took place. I would like you to believe that these atrocities happened because I was there.

Today's best video

Today in pictures