BERLIN — German authorities have charged an 88-year-old former member of an SS armored division with 25 counts of murder for allegedly taking part in the largest massacre in Nazi-occupied France.

The Cologne state court said Wednesday that Werner C., whose last name wasn’t given in accordance with German privacy laws, was also charged with hundreds of counts of accessory to murder in connection with the slaughter in Oradour-sur-Glane, 25 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of Limoges, in 1944.

The suspect’s attorney, Rainer Pohlen, told The Associated Press his client doesn’t deny being at the village but said he never fired a shot and had nothing to do with the massacre.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

In total 642 men, women and children were killed in reprisal for the French Resistance’s kidnapping of a German soldier.