German woman aged (91) charged over Nazi death camp allegations

[Deleted]

http://www.dw.com/en/91-year-old-wom...itz/a-18728698
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...itz-death-camp

"German prosecutors say they have charged a 91-year-old woman with 260,000 counts of accessory to murder on allegations she was a member of the Nazi SS who served in the Auschwitz death camp complex.
Schleswig-Holstein prosecutors’ spokesman, Heinz Doellel, said on Monday the woman, whose name was not disclosed due to German privacy laws, is alleged to have served as a radio operator for the camp commandant from April to July 1944.

Prosecutors argue that she can be charged as an accessory because she helped the death camp function. A 94-year-old former SS sergeant at Auschwitz was convicted on the same reasoning earlier this year.

Doellel says there are no indications the woman is unfit for trial, though a court will probably not decide on whether to proceed with the case until next year."



Utterly pathetic.

[Saradain]

"Do your job or be executed, regardless of if you support the cause or not."

I guess that never mattered to some people

[TheDeeGee]

Don't people have better things to do these days?

[Slant]

Haha, I read that yesterday and wondered when it would pop up here. Just to prevent stupid things from being said, there is no statue of limitation on murder or accessory of it, that's why they're making a case out of her. Yes, it's 70 years by now. No, we cannot just ignore it, because the international community looks at these things and wants to make sure that we clean up our own history properly. Yes, if she is found guilty, her age will be a major factor in reducing the sentence, possibly completely. No, this is not about it being "fair" or not. This is about justice and justice alone. Yes, the judge and the attorneys are probably using this to promote their own careers, but they are limited by the German law, so they can't abuse the situation.

Don't feel sorry for her. She's being treated well. And nobody was sorry for the Jews or the other lives that were lost during that war. This is late, we know. But it has to be done for a modern society with a working system of law and order has to proceed. Justice has to be served.

[lonely zergling]

That's stupid.. as if all germans wanted to do this, many were forced to work there.. better work than getting killed.. imho.

[Slant]

That's stupid.. as if all germans wanted to do this, many were forced to work there.. better work than getting killed.. imho.

This sentiment will be evaluated by the court as well. But for a just verdict, you have to have a trial in the first place in which it can be evaluated. That someone is in court doesn't mean he's guilty. It just means the court is looking into stuff because the attorney at law sees enough evidence to suspect a crime has been committed.

[Deleted]

Haha, I read that yesterday and wondered when it would pop up here. Just to prevent stupid things from being said, there is no statue of limitation on murder or accessory of it, that's why they're making a case out of her. Yes, it's 70 years by now. No, we cannot just ignore it, because the international community looks at these things and wants to make sure that we clean up our own history properly. Yes, if she is found guilty, her age will be a major factor in reducing the sentence, possibly completely. No, this is not about it being "fair" or not. This is about justice and justice alone. Yes, the judge and the attorneys are probably using this to promote their own careers, but they are limited by the German law, so they can't abuse the situation.

Don't feel sorry for her. She's being treated well. And nobody was sorry for the Jews or the other lives that were lost during that war. This is late, we know. But it has to be done for a modern society with a working system of law and order has to proceed. Justice has to be served.

Come on, I think everbody knows that one community is mainly responsible for this. I wouldn't really call it justice either, witch-hunting would be more appropriate.

[lonely zergling]

This sentiment will be evaluated by the court as well. But for a just verdict, you have to have a trial in the first place in which it can be evaluated. That someone is in court doesn't mean he's guilty. It just means the court is looking into stuff because the attorney at law sees enough evidence to suspect a crime has been committed.

Very huge crime to serve as a radio operator.. Its not like she did unleash the gas.

You are talking to your friend on phone while he kills someone, you now are guilty for helping him /head-wall

[Slant]

Come on, I think everbody knows that one community is mainly responsible for this. I wouldn't really call it justice, witch-hunting would be more appropriate.

German law doesn't really support witch hunting. If they find evidence that she is an accessory to murder, she'll receive the sentence due to her. Nothing about this is a witch hunt. It's a formalised procedure that is in the interest of public order and safety (well, more order than safety, I admit :P).

Amusingly, this 90 year old woman will be tried in a youth court, since she was underaged at the time the crimes happened. This could very well be the oldest defendant in the history of youth courts all over the world. :P

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Very huge crime to serve as a radio operator.. Its not like she did unleash the gas.

You are talking to your friend on phone while he kills someone, you now are guilty for helping him /head-wall

This is for the court to decide, no? If they find that being a random radio operator is not connected closely enough to Auschwitz gas chambers, they will find her not guilty. But for that to happen, you have to have a trial.

[Notchris]

witch-hunting would be more appropriate.

It's definitely hit those levels by now, what with the most obvious cases dealt with, now they're pushing for 19 yr old radio operators who worked there for 4 months.

[Super Kami Dende]

She was a Radio Operator. I guess reading messages is as bad as Gassing people now.

TBH everytime I see one of these trials these days all it seems to me is Jews trying to constantly be like "HEY HEY GUYS REMEMBER WHEN THIS HAPPENED, HEY GUYS YOU CAN'T CRITICIZE US BECAUSE REMEMBER THIS, HEY HEY!"

[Orange Joe]

German law doesn't really support witch hunting. If they find evidence that she is an accessory to murder, she'll receive the sentence due to her. Nothing about this is a witch hunt. It's a formalised procedure that is in the interest of public order and safety (well, more order than safety, I admit :P).

Amusingly, this 90 year old woman will be tried in a youth court, since she was underaged at the time the crimes happened. This could very well be the oldest defendant in the history of youth couths all over the world. :P

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This is for the court to decide, no? If they find that being a random radio operator is not connected closely enough to Auschwitz gas chambers, they will find her not guilty. But for that to happen, you have to have a trial.

because courts are never wrong. The court doesn't ever make a mistake does it.

[Unionoob]

Very huge crime to serve as a radio operator..

It's not just as simple as radio operator. It's to stop same things to happen again. Maybe she was just operator but without votes and regular joe who voted for them they wouldn't have gained as much power as they did. At fault of all this terror is everyone who either were for them or even if wasn't but did nothing to stop Nazi's to come at power and do all those atrocities. Sticking your head in sand shouldn't remove your responsibility from all this.

[Slant]

because courts are never wrong. The court doesn't ever make a mistake does it.

They do make mistakes, but they're a big step away from lynch mobs, don't you think? Can you come up with a better system? Remember, murder has no statute of limiation by law. You could be killing someone at 14 years old and grow as old as 150 and still be tried for murder. That's absolutely intentional as a deterrent for potential murderers in the future. You will never be "free" of that guilt.

[Biomega]

Keep in mind that many of the actual facts are not stated or even known (publicly) at this point. It has never been German practice to prosecute EVERYONE involved in the operation of concentration camps. The cases that were brought to trial were brought there for specific reasons, i.e. some circumstance that made it clear these people were ACTIVELY helping things along, not just "doing their job" or "being forced" (directly or indirectly). Naturally it would have been ludicrous to just prosecute the hundreds of thousands of civilians involved in Third Reich operations, and it still is.

If this case is actually being brought to court, then it is HIGHLY likely that there is evidence of particular guilt in some form or another. Mere reluctant compliance is not and has never been enough to actually result in a Third Reich court case in Germany (save for legal errors, false evidence, etc.).

[Notchris]

It's not just as simple as radio operator. It's to stop same things to happen again. Maybe she was just operator but without votes and regular joe who voted for them they wouldn't have gained as much power as they did. At fault of all this terror is everyone who either were for them or even if wasn't but did nothing to stop Nazi's to come at power and do all those atrocities. Sticking your head in sand shouldn't remove your responsibility from all this.

So, by that logic, the entirety of Germany that was of age at the time of the rise of the Nazi Party and anyone of age during the course of the war should be prosecuted.

[lonely zergling]

It's not just as simple as radio operator. It's to stop same things to happen again. Maybe she was just operator but without votes and regular joe who voted for them they wouldn't have gained as much power as they did. At fault of all this terror is everyone who either were for them or even if wasn't but did nothing to stop Nazi's to come at power and do all those atrocities. Sticking your head in sand shouldn't remove your responsibility from all this.

If you go this deep then you could say that the people who did the Treaty of Versailles are responsible for WW2 as it was very unfair for germans and only enabled people like H. to gain power.

[Super Kami Dende]

It's not just as simple as radio operator. It's to stop same things to happen again. Maybe she was just operator but without votes and regular joe who voted for them they wouldn't have gained as much power as they did. At fault of all this terror is everyone who either were for them or even if wasn't but did nothing to stop Nazi's to come at power and do all those atrocities. Sticking your head in sand shouldn't remove your responsibility from all this.

You see, If you say this about the extremists of any group that AREN'T White you get slammed hard. But remember guys all Germans are Nazis and completely supported Hitler. Stop being Naziphobic!

[Aeula]

We should arrest Germany for housing the Nazi's, how dare that piece of land house our enemies!

[Saradain]

It's not just as simple as radio operator. It's to stop same things to happen again. Maybe she was just operator but without votes and regular joe who voted for them they wouldn't have gained as much power as they did. At fault of all this terror is everyone who either were for them or even if wasn't but did nothing to stop Nazi's to come at power and do all those atrocities. Sticking your head in sand shouldn't remove your responsibility from all this.

Are you insane? An underaged girl can be "guilty" for a genocide because she didn't stop the entire SS army? How could she contribute to the problem, she wasn't even allowed to vote...