Concentration Camp Trials

[NorthDakota]

Auschwitz survivors testify at former SS sergeant's trial | Fox News

I've seen a few of these trials going on over the past year or so. Thoughts on prosecuting old men for doing their part in the Holocaust?

 

[wizards8507]

I'm not too familiar with this but it seems like a dog-and-pony show. 170,000 counts with zero physical evidence and eyewitness testimony that's over seventy years old seems to be remarkably shaky legal ground.

 

[Irish#1]

Given the atrocities they did committed, they should be held accountable regardless of age.

 

[NorthDakota]

You reckon we should find all the Allied soldiers who murdered German POW's and charge them as well?

 

[wizards8507]

Given the atrocities they did committed, they should be held accountable regardless of age.

"Should," sure. But I question whether it's even possible given the amount of time that's passed and the lack of any evidence whatsoever.

 

[Irish#1]

I'm not too familiar with this but it seems like a dog-and-pony show. 170,000 counts with zero physical evidence and eyewitness testimony that's over seventy years old seems to be remarkably shaky legal ground.

You don't forget this even if it was 70 years ago.

 

[RDU Irish]

At this point it's between them and God IMO. "Justice" served 70 years later rings a bit hollow to me.

 

[wizards8507]

You don't forget this even if it was 70 years ago.

Time doesn't make it less egregious, but it does make it harder to build a legal case. I'm not saying they should be off the hook because lots of time has gone by, only that there might be no other option than to let them off the hook because it's been far too long to prove anything.

 

[Irish#1]

You reckon we should find all the Allied soldiers who murdered German POW's and charge them as well?

Bone up on your history. These camps held innocent civilians.

"Should," sure. But I question whether it's even possible given the amount of time that's passed and the lack of any evidence whatsoever.

At this point it's between them and God IMO. "Justice" served 70 years later rings a bit hollow to me.

This is sad. The further away we get from WWII the more attitudes become indifferent. Should we ignore our few remaining vets from WWII simply because it was 70 years ago? We're talking about a world altering event where too many died needlessly because a couple of countries wanted to rule the world. Should we ignore the 75 year old pedophile because he's old?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Bone up on your history. These camps held innocent civilians.

This is sad. The further away we get from WWII the more attitudes become indifferent. Should we ignore our few remaining vets from WWII simply because it was 70 years ago? We're talking about a world altering event where too many died needlessly because a couple of countries wanted to rule the world. Should we ignore the 75 year old pedophile because he's old?

The argument isn't "this happened a long time ago, so let's ignore it." The argument is "Western states generally have to sustain a heavy burden of proof in order to incarcerate someone, and they may not be able to do so here given the nature of the case."

 

[wizards8507]

Bone up on your history. These camps held innocent civilians.

This is sad. The further away we get from WWII the more attitudes become indifferent. Should we ignore our few remaining vets from WWII simply because it was 70 years ago? We're talking about a world altering event where too many died needlessly because a couple of countries wanted to rule the world. Should we ignore the 75 year old pedophile because he's old?

Are you reading what we're writing? Nobody is saying the holocaust was okay. Nobody is saying it's more okay because it happened 70 years ago. But there's a huge distinction between whether something is morally wrong and whether you can prove it in a court of law. There is no evidence linking this particular defendant to any specific crime.

 

[NorthDakota]

Bone up on your history. These camps held innocent civilians.






This is sad. The further away we get from WWII the more attitudes become indifferent. Should we ignore our few remaining vets from WWII simply because it was 70 years ago? We're talking about a world altering event where too many died needlessly because a couple of countries wanted to rule the world. Should we ignore the 75 year old pedophile because he's old?

So you are okay with shooting POWs but not with being assigned to work at a concentration camp?

 

[greyhammer90]

This is sad. The further away we get from WWII the more attitudes become indifferent. Should we ignore our few remaining vets from WWII simply because it was 70 years ago? We're talking about a world altering event where too many died needlessly because a couple of countries wanted to rule the world. Should we ignore the 75 year old pedophile because he's old?

 

[RDU Irish]

Bone up on your history. These camps held innocent civilians.






This is sad. The further away we get from WWII the more attitudes become indifferent. Should we ignore our few remaining vets from WWII simply because it was 70 years ago? We're talking about a world altering event where too many died needlessly because a couple of countries wanted to rule the world. Should we ignore the 75 year old pedophile because he's old?

Less indifferent than acknowledging how impractical it is to prosecute and lock up a bunch of 90 year olds for something they did when they were 20. Ruin their lives publicly? Sure, guilt them into a heart attack- no sympathy whatsoever.

 

[gkIrish]

My knowledge of these types of trials is really limited.... have they historically gone after anyone who served under the Nazi regime, or just the guys that gave orders?

 

[NorthDakota]

My knowledge of these types of trials is really limited.... have they historically gone after anyone who served under the Nazi regime, or just the guys that gave orders?

It appears anyone who was working there is eligible to be prosecuted.

 

[ulukinatme]

I'm not sure what the point is. Obviously they should have paid for their crimes, but what can you do to them now? You're going to incarcerate them for the few remaining years they have? Sure, it's some kind of punishment, but it won't be enough to fit the crime based on how long many of these guys have to live. The sad part is it's taken this long for them to do something. I'd have each of these guys prepare a speech and send them to every synagogue in Europe asking for forgiveness from the survivor's grandchildren. That's probably a better punishment than locking them up for a few years.

 

[MNIrishman]

Winners decide the righteous side of the war ex post facto. Allied soldiers under orders committed atrocities against innocent civilians as well. Unless we're willing to prosecute our own veterans who partook in the Dresden fire bombings or the guards at our Japanese internment camps, it seems hypocritical to prosecute a soldier whose assignment was the camps UNLESS we can prove that that specific individual acted with cruelty or gave orders to do so. I guess what I'm saying is, my support of prosecution would be based not on the guy's job (because he might not have enjoyed working at the camp and feared reprisal against his family or might have done his best to aid the suffering there, or, hell, he might have just been the guy who cleans the shitters. Part of the nature of conscription is the lack of choice, and prosecuting someone for something they were forced to do is ethically wrong), but on what he did beyond his job that would be a war crime. Did he work chow hall or did he serve as a personal assistant to Mengele? Did he treat prisoners with dignity or rape them in his free time? To what degree was he coerced? For what did he use his limited autonomy? And most importantly, what can we prove beyond reasonable doubt this many years later?