89-year-old former Auschwitz guard arrested in Philadelphia

[Joe Republic]

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[HagridOfTheDeep]

I always find these cases so interesting. I guess maybe I'm not a "tough-on-crime" conservative, but if someone committed a crime and gets caught 70 years later, doesn't it count for something that the person who committed the crime in 1944 has, over the course of decades, grown into a completely different person? Even if he pulled the trigger and killed someone, 70 years could have completely changed the guy...

I mean... I don't know where I stand on this issue myself. It's tough.

[PiMp DaDdy FitzGerald]

I bet that if he killed white people it wouldn't have taken 70 years.

[NewYorkExpress]

At this point I'm not sure why they're even bothering (and for the record I am Jewish, and if I were Harry Truman, I would deliberately extended the war against Germany to use the atomic bomb against them, they deserved it- but now they've more than paid their pennance)

[Meursault]

What an idiotic idea. You know thousands of Jews were being killed right up to the third week in April 1945, right? Do the words 'Birkenau death march' ring a bell?

By extending the war, you extend the death toll.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I still don't see the point of punishing the guardsmen. They would have been shot if they didn't do what Hitler wanted to be done.

If this was 1954, I wouldn't be so opposed to the arrest. But this man is going to be dead within a few years. If he truly did commit atrocities, God will judge him for it.

[bedstuy]

At this point I'm not sure why they're even bothering (and for the record I am Jewish, and if I were Harry Truman, I would deliberately extended the war against Germany to use the atomic bomb against them, they deserved it- but now they've more than paid their pennance)

That's horrifying as it is ahistorical.  Get a grip dude.  

Personally, the question is what punishment is appropriate for someone who is old and frail and committed the crimes long ago.  I don't think a prison sentence would be appropriate most likely.  But, if anyone commits war crimes or crimes against humanity, they should be held to account for them.

[Brittain33]

I still don't see the point of punishing the guardsmen. They would have been shot if they didn't do what Hitler wanted to be done.

I believe the concentration camp guards were volunteers for the SS or that service, and had not been drafted as if they were in the Wehrmacht. And the policy of the SS toward Jews was not a secret, even if some of the methods weren't openly discussed. I welcome evidence to the contrary on the former, though.

People who served in the camps were not prisoners of conscience.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I still don't see the point of punishing the guardsmen. They would have been shot if they didn't do what Hitler wanted to be done.

I believe the concentration camp guards were volunteers for the SS or that service, and had not been drafted as if they were in the Wehrmacht. And the policy of the SS toward Jews was not a secret, even if some of the methods weren't openly discussed. I welcome evidence to the contrary on the former, though.

People who served in the camps were not prisoners of conscience.

I wasn't aware of that, but IIRC, the SS were (at least after 1941) were drafted from the ranks of the Wehrmacht. I don't remember where I heard this, and I doubt its true, but that was the impression I was under. It's an interesting subject to look into, actually.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Much like Soviet commissars and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the SS were partially tasked with keeping the standard military in line, so putting conscripts in their rank wouldn't work very well. Such organizations need to have actual believers.

[Hifly]

This is absolutely ridiculous. What a farce.

[Antonio the Sixth]

lol @ people literally defending a concentration camp guard. Congrats, forum, you have reached a new low today.

[Hifly]

lol @ people literally defending a concentration camp guard. Congrats, forum, you have reached a new low today.

What threat does this man pose to society?  Do you feel threatened by an 89 year old man being at large?

[Antonio the Sixth]

lol @ people literally defending a concentration camp guard. Congrats, forum, you have reached a new low today.

What threat does this man pose to society?  Do you feel threatened by an 89 year old man being at large?

My God would you just shut up.

[Meursault]

I'll go a step further: the brutal rendition of Adolf Eichmann from Argentina by the Israelis in 1960 was unconscionable.

[Middle-aged Europe]

I'll go a step further: the brutal rendition of Adolf Eichmann from Argentina by the Israelis in 1960 was unconscionable.

Sometimes going a step further means that you have gone two steps too far.

[Hifly]

lol @ people literally defending a concentration camp guard. Congrats, forum, you have reached a new low today.

What threat does this man pose to society?  Do you feel threatened by an 89 year old man being at large?

My God would you just shut up.

No. Speak up for yourself.

[Antonio the Sixth]

LOL, Nazis are the victims now. You people are sick.

[Cassius]

I bet that if he killed white people it wouldn't have taken 70 years.

Do Poles and German Jehovah's Witnesses (of whom there were, I believe, a few in Auschwitz) not count as white? Unless of course I've fallen for trollbait, in which case, nice work

Anyway, if this man was just a 'guard', then he shouldn't be charged. If it can be proven that he was involved in killings, then he should. That's it...

[Tender Branson]

I like it when Nazi-scum is tracked down and brought to justice.

No matter how old they are ...

[Antonio the Sixth]

I like it when Nazi-scum is tracked down and brought to justice.

No matter how old they are ...

(normal)

[ingemann]

I still don't see the point of punishing the guardsmen. They would have been shot if they didn't do what Hitler wanted to be done.

No just no. First of all, almost all you think about Nazi Germany are wrong. As people have already said it was party members (SS) who worked in the camps. Also among these was people who objected to working in the concentration and death camps. They was moved to other services, sometimes to the front, sometimes to administrative duties. The Nazi's knew that not everybody was cut to starve and murder thousands of people.

Ironic there was guards who was punished, but these was usual punished for excessive brutality. The camp commander in Schindler's List as example was removed from duty and was waiting for his trial when the war ended. His crimes; excessive brutality.

[Heimdal]

There is certain hypocrisy here. Some of the big Nazi leaders were of course executed after the Nuremberg, but a large number of high ranking officials and officers in the Wehrmacht, Gestapo and SS were not punished. They were needed by either the Western Allies or the Soviets. The guy who developed the V2 ballistic missile for Germany went on to work for the Americans.  Albert Speer died as the “Good Nazi”.

A lot of the men that organized the German war effort and the repression got lenient sentences (or no punishment at all), and were back at work shortly after the war. They long dead at this point. The ones that are left were usually young and low ranking. It is something disgraceful by a process that lets the ringleaders go unpunished, but punishes the foot soldiers.

[Del Tachi]

Personally, I feel like the U.S. should refuse to extradite in a case like this.

This 89 year old obviously poses no risk to the wellbeing of those around him, and its quite frankly stupid for the German government to be pulling these shenanigans. 

[Hatman 🍁]

The man at least deserves a trial guys, let's see what comes of it.

We all know Nazis are evil, you can save your blood thirst for another day.