Auschwitz Guard standing trial

[Istypops]

I don't think he should get send to prison, mostly because he's 90+ and back then, if you were against Hitler, you were a traitor. It was this, or be thrown on the streets. You can't blame a person for wanting a semi decent life. What would have happened if he had set the prisoners free? They would have all been shot. He wasn't the only freaking guard.

[Deleted]

He's 95. Even if we disregard the fact that he's probably never gonna face time in jail anyway, due to his old age, what good would putting him in prison do? If he hasn't felt at all remorseful in all these years (even though it seems that he does), going to jail won't change that. It also wouldn't be any justice for the people he "guarded", as they are already dead. I also don't imagine the descendants of the people that were murdered while he was standing guard would see it as a victory to see this guy go to jail.

It's simply too late. Hell, 15 years ago it would've been too late.

[Deleted]

And what do you say to those victims who are still living? Forget it! It's history? Of course they demand justice. But for them it's far more important that their story is told und heard. And that's the most important part of the trial.

If he didn't actually kill anybody himself, then it is difficult to see what he could be charged with.

I'd be wary of prosecuting people because they were part of a bureaucratic apparatus which carried out atrocities. Say for example you are an accountant for ISAF. Many countries would like to see people prosecuted for the civillian deaths perpetrated by ISAF, particulary the 400 children they recently killed. So you could end up on trial. Do you want to set a legal precedent for prosecution of everyone involved in the bureeaucratic apparatus? Because that's a lot of people, probably thousands at least.

This guy doesn't seem like a particulary brave or principled individual. Most of us aren't. His drinking and transfer request plus the lack of evidence linking to him to actual atrocities suggests he wasn't that evil either. Judging by psychological studies such as the Stanford prison experiment and the Milgram experiment, most of us would have done exactly the same or worse in his position.

[Deleted]

Damn! Sounds like a special kind of asshole, but unfortunately not all to uncommon enough.

Dead people dont need money he is right.

[Puri]

It's good they put him on trial, and it is a very interesting read since unlike many others it looks like he is talking honestly about those things he witnessed and commited. After he saw a baby die by the hands of a fellow officer he asked for being transferred to the eastern front, and that after doing atrocious things himself.

The question is why he is put on trial now. He - and his former collegues - were known to have worked at Auschwitz since the end of the war, he was questioned several times over the course of the decades, and now - when most of those guards are dead - they decide to have him trialled. He is just used as straw man, and this is probably the last or one of the last trials of this kind.

[Deleted]

Cool, so when are we going to execute or throw in prison the gulag guards and the NKVD/STASI agents?

[Deleted]

Dead people dont need money he is right.

He's German. They are a fine people, but tact isn't exactly their strongest attribute. It isn't a crime.

[Pengekaer]

And what do you say to those victims who are still living?

For reasons I have sketched, I think punishment of this man is futile. But that being said, I wouldn't blame an ex-Auswitch prisoner for murdering this guy. I would perfectly understand his bloodlust in such a case.

[Aeula]

Didn't WW2 happen like 60 years ago? Who cares?! You should have had him on trial then, waste of time now.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Dead people dont need money he is right.

No, but their families do, and so do those who suffering was required to pay for it.

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Didn't WW2 happen like 60 years ago? Who cares?! You should have had him on trial then, waste of time now.

When it happened and how long it happened isn't prudent, HE still alive, and therefor those his crime hurt, are still alive and effected.

[Mormolyce]

Nazis being persecuted? History is just one big black irony, isn't it?

If he is guilty, then he deserves everything he is getting and more.

Guilty of what? He didn't deny being a guard at Auschwitz. He even said in his own statement that regardless of the legal decision, he shares moral guilt.

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Didn't WW2 happen like 60 years ago? Who cares?!

Probably those concentration camp survivors that were in the audience.

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Damn! Sounds like a special kind of asshole, but unfortunately not all to uncommon enough.

What do you think he should've done? Obviously taking gold from the dead was what he was assigned there to do. After seeing the atrocities in the camps he requested a transfer and started hitting the bottle to cope with what he'd seen.

It's nice and easy to think that bad things in the world are caused by dirty nasty evil people. But it's not like that really.

[Saeran]

The guy admitted his moral guilt in a BBC documentary 20 years ago in order to disrepute holocaust deniers. If he should have been tried for being a member of the SS at Auschwitz, he should have been tried then. This trial now seems pointless and is only going ahead because he happens to be one of the last few alive. The people who did the real crimes are now long dead.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Nazis being persecuted? History is just one big black irony, isn't it?



Guilty of what? He didn't deny being a guard at Auschwitz. He even said in his own statement that regardless of the legal decision, he shares moral guilt.

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Probably those concentration camp survivors that were in the audience.

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What do you think he should've done? Obviously taking gold from the dead was what he was assigned there to do. After seeing the atrocities in the camps he requested a transfer and started hitting the bottle to cope with what he'd seen.

It's nice and easy to think that bad things in the world are caused by dirty nasty evil people. But it's not like that really.

So, he should have found a way to give the money back, or give it to some cause to help that situation, not "Oh well they are dead you snooze you lose," I also don't care how he felt or hitting the bottle either, do the right thing.

[Saeran]

So, he should have found a way to give the money back, or give it to some cause to help that situation, not "Oh well they are dead you snooze you lose," I also don't care how he felt or hitting the bottle either, do the right thing.

That is rather a silly statement. How on earth would he have been able to 'give money back'? He did not pocket the gold himself, he was an accountant who had to package the stolen money and gold and send it on to Berlin.

It is easy to judge people with the hindsight of history. The guy was 22 at the time, really only a kid and he has admitted that he has carried the guilt of the crimes of Auschwitz all his life. I suggest you should watch 'Auschwitz and the Final Solution' (BBC).

[Tailswipe]

I feel like they should make him do something more productive like educating people about the Holocaust imo.

He did. He spent a lot of effort countering holocaust deniers, that is how it was found out that he was a admin clerk at Auschwitz and why he is now on trial.

[Deleted]

No, but their families do, and so do those who suffering was required to pay for it.

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When it happened and how long it happened isn't prudent, HE still alive, and therefor those his crime hurt, are still alive and effected.

I am from jewish decent my self, my grandad lost his arm fighting the germans in WW2 and he lost alot of his family.
So I can actually say this time: Stop trying to make things right for people that are not asking you do to a goddamn thing.
This has been done 60+ years ago, let things rest.
What are you going to do to a 93!! year old guard, its not even a person actually responsible on a large scale.

Man, you and your damn crusades..

[enragedgorilla]

I am from jewish decent my self, my grandad lost his arm fighting the germans in WW2 and he lost alot of his family.
So I can actually say this time: Stop trying to make things right for people that are not asking you do to a goddamn thing.
This has been done 60+ years ago, let things rest.
What are you going to do to a 93!! year old guard, its not even a person actually responsible on a large scale.

Man, you and your damn crusades..

I would surmise the reply will be something like,"You do not speak for an entire ethnic group." or some such.

[cadb]

This topic has ( and will have ) too many people who have never been conscripted, I can tell.

Yes, he is guilty and he should be put on trial but like it was pointed out before he was questioned several times and after the war unless you were part of the SS or any other political organization, vast majority of the Wehrmacht were allowed to go free; because when you are a soldier you do what you are told. It doesn't matter if you stand guard in Auschwitz or fight in the Eastern Front. You don't really get to choose where you will be stationed or what you will be required to do.

Unless we're willing to make anyone who fought in a war stand trial, I don't see the point. But if we're doing that, sure, the old man is guilty and should be put in prison for the rest of his ( admittedly low number of ) days. After all, it doesn't matter if you kill an American, a Jew or an Arab; we are all humans.

[Trassk]

I am unbias when it comes to these sort of things, if either its a man, woman, teenager, pre teen, or elderly, if your the reason so many people are dead, you are either a murderer or part of the reason why.

Of course it needs to be looked into exactly what his involvement is, but if it comes out he is responsible for so many people being murdered in Auschwitz, then yes, same as any killer of any age, see justice done.

[Deleted]

I also don't care how he felt or hitting the bottle either, do the right thing.

I wonder what you'd have done if you were conscripted to the Nazi army and faced a choice of do your duties or be executed by your officer. It's so easy to see in black and white when you're not living it.

Anyway, nothing is going to be achieved by putting a 95 year old man in prison. It may satisfy a thirst for revenge or whatever, but he's not going to serve any real time. It would be faster to just execute him if vengeance is the motive.