Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The trial of one of the last Nazi war criminals to be prosecuted started today. The guy is 93 years old and is being charged in accessory to murder of 300,000 Hungarian Jews. It doesn't explain it in the article, but I'm curious to know how he remained undetected for so long, but then was finally caught.
The trial of one of the last Nazi war criminals to be prosecuted started today. The guy is 93 years old and is being charged in accessory to murder of 300,000 Hungarian Jews. It doesn't explain it in the article, but I'm curious to know how he remained undetected for so long, but then was finally caught.
It basically comes down to what Hannah Arendt calls "Little Eichmanns." There were so many damn murderers in Europe's system of concentration camps that post war, there's no way that all of them could be accounted for. This guy even spent a good while in a British POW camp IN Britain totally undetected because he lied about the nature of his service. What could the British do at that point? That was a real conflagration on the ground in Europe, and with all the western powers plus Russia almost immediately descending into a Cold War posture, catching these criminals became secondary before becoming totally unimportant.
Basically, post war Europe was an effin' mess.
Sad thing is that thousands more who are worse than him never came to justice. Just think...the main murderers were the Germans, Austrians, Ukranians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Belorussians, Croatians, and to a far lesser extent, the Poles.
Few non German Nazis were ever called to account for what they did even though non Germans were often doing most of the dirty work in the camps and the main participants in the massacres.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,330 posts, read 54,411,082 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertdetroiter
It basically comes down to what Hannah Arendt calls "Little Eichmanns." There were so many damn murderers in Europe's system of concentration camps that post war, there's no way that all of them could be accounted for. This guy even spent a good while in a British POW camp IN Britain totally undetected because he lied about the nature of his service. What could the British do at that point? That was a real conflagration on the ground in Europe, and with all the western powers plus Russia almost immediately descending into a Cold War posture, catching these criminals became secondary before becoming totally unimportant.
Basically, post war Europe was an effin' mess.
Sad thing is that thousands more who are worse than him never came to justice. Just think...the main murderers were the Germans, Austrians, Ukranians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Belorussians, Croatians, and to a far lesser extent, the Poles.
Few non German Nazis were ever called to account for what they did even though non Germans were often doing most of the dirty work in the camps and the main participants in the massacres.
Why do the Russians get a pass?
Another sad thing is Josef Stalin, an American 'ally', killed as many if not more than were killed in the German camps.
Another sad thing is Josef Stalin, an American 'ally', killed as many if not more than were killed in the German camps.
Or the Japanese for that matter. They killed 15+ million Chinese civilians and all the individuals involved were never held accountable. Of course Mao killed even more of his own people and is regarded as some sort of god.
The trial of one of the last Nazi war criminals to be prosecuted started today. The guy is 93 years old and is being charged in accessory to murder of 300,000 Hungarian Jews. It doesn't explain it in the article, but I'm curious to know how he remained undetected for so long, but then was finally caught.
He wasn't "caught" he has been an outspoken eye witness of the holocaust for years / decades.
There is no evidence that he murdered anyone. This is a new tack to charge the few who remain alive as "accessories" under an interpretation of German law.
Am I the only one who thinks it's absurd that he's being charged for this? Was he not just following orders? Even if he thought what was happening was important, I just can't help but feel that this is unjust. The US made amends with England quite soon after the Revolution, which is especially impressive for the British. So why treat this man so different? What he did was undeniably wrong, but jesus, he's 93 years old and served a country that doesn't even exist anymore, and hasn't for over 50 years.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,330 posts, read 54,411,082 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake
Or the Japanese for that matter. They killed 15+ million Chinese civilians and all the individuals involved were never held accountable. Of course Mao killed even more of his own people and is regarded as some sort of god.
Yes, it'd be difficult to accuse history of being unbiased the way it's usually written, we only remember what we choose to remember..
Am I the only one who thinks it's absurd that he's being charged for this? Was he not just following orders? Even if he thought what was happening was important, I just can't help but feel that this is unjust. The US made amends with England quite soon after the Revolution, which is especially impressive for the British. So why treat this man so different? What he did was undeniably wrong, but jesus, he's 93 years old and served a country that doesn't even exist anymore, and hasn't for over 50 years.
Agreed. A man at 93 should not be put through the ordeal. What are they going to do to him if convicted?
Or the Japanese for that matter. They killed 15+ million Chinese civilians and all the individuals involved were never held accountable. Of course Mao killed even more of his own people and is regarded as some sort of god.
I have seen 15 million as an estimate of all Chinese wartime deaths from all causes, including famine.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.