I am not sure I agree with this new prosecution of “war crimes” because so much time has passed. As time passes, people forget things, leave things out, and therefore the truth can never be fully told. I think Germany is opening up a can of worms that really doesn’t need to be opened again. High officials have been prosecuted for these offenses; do we really need to start prosecuting the guards after so many years? I don’t think putting elderly people with heath, mental and a short amount of life expectancy in jail gives justice to those people who died. Another problem I have will this issue deals with the aspect of appeals. The prosecutors know that this case in particular is under appeals, and even so they are doing huge amounts of investigations to try and find both victims and suspects. If this case is overturned based on appeals then the German government has wasted numerous amounts of man-hours and money to try and find people for no reason. They also had no definitive evidence proving this man was a guard at the concentration camp so how do they plan on proving the crimes for other guards?
Guards of Nazi concentration camps could most definitely be charged with participation in Government crime, but as Bailey said, to what extent will mourners gain satisfaction from their delayed prosecution? I also agree with the fact that this must be an extremely costly and drawn out process. However, what cannot be argued with is the fact that there are absolutely no age limits or a statute of limitations to a crime involving murder. I understand why German authorities would be pursuing these people even though they are few. Here in the US “cold-case” units are set up in various places to bring those to justice for crimes unsolved from many years ago up to now. Would we be more lenient here for an 80 year old man that participated in the murder hundreds of people, for example? It doesn’t matter if he’s in a nursing home or has a wife and kids, the American justice system will still indict him. As far as I’m concerned, you do the crime, you do the time!!
The Holocaust strikes a horrible event in history and provokes horrific images and memories to many. The Holocaust occurred many years ago and it is very surprising to see that German authorities are reopening hundreds of dormant investigations. Members being investigated are of very high ages, going all the way up to the age of 90. I believe they should serve some time in prison for what they did but the “reopening” of the files and the investigations should of took action many years ago. What will end up happening is the taxpayers will pay for them to be in jail for what five years? Waste of money, I believe they will be penalized soon enough when they face God. The actions that occurred during the Holocaust were a state sponsored murder. Democide took place and many Jews lost their lives. The article states that they want to bring justice to as many as they can, and I believe they should do that. It’s very rough to read about the Holocaust.
I think what happened during the holocaust is tragic and the people responsible should be held accountable. Even though our constitution gives us the right to a speedy trial, I think this is a special exception. In addition, I am concerned about the age of these suspects. At the age of 91 (or more), these ex- death camp guards may not be in shape to stand trial or even alive. What will prosecutors do? Send an old man already dying to prison? I think it is great to hold them responsible however, after so many years is it possible to find a punishment for them? Also after seven decades these guards are being prosecuted should people start to fear the government?
After reading this particular post, and some of the comments previously given, I honestly, am in no way upset by the age of these suspects. I feel that age is a part of human life, and this is probably a far fetched example, but Hugh Hefner, is old, and living a promiscuous lifestyle, so, these suspects are old and should be punished. The choices they made when they were Nazi death camp guards are choices that should have serious consequences. I agree, with the families of the death camp survivors, in that the trials should be figured out quickly and these suspects should receive proper punishment, and I add that the punishment should be fair, and age should not be the issue. These people are old and wrinkly from the outside, but that has nothing to do with the choices they made and everything to do with the people they are. They may be old now, but they killed millions of people, including children/babies and then other old people.
The fact that there are criminals still out there living their lives with no regard for what they did to all of those people in the concentration camps is terrible. The survivors of the families that lost their lives have been trying to get this issue resolved for too long and it doesn't matter how old they are. The appeals have taken too long and it is interesting that it's coming up again. I agree with some of the comments above in that they probably have been living a hell on earth and God will make the decision of punishment.
No matter how much time has passed, a crime is a crime. The guards and anyone involved in the success of concentration camps, in my eyes, is a criminal. However, I agree with Bailey in the sense that overtime, things such as documentation and memory has been lost and there is no real way to prove who was a guard and who wasn’t. The guards of concentration camps during the Holocaust should have been prosecuted in a timely manner in order to ensure that the men being prosecuted are rightly convicted. Along with the evidence of the cases being unreliable, you have to deal with the fact that if you do find someone who is, in fact, guilty of such a heinous crime, they are going to be harder to deal with than younger inmates in prison. Not that I think they should get away with this crime, but do they really want to spend the time and money convicting men who don’t even have that much longer to live?
The German Nazi era is an excellent example of war crimes, state organized crimes and corrupt state just for starters. The single most fully documented and extreme case of genocide, the Nazi regime was poisoned from the very core. Germany is right not to let any part of the death camp participants go unresolved. Given the average age of the perpetrators I do think the ultimate judgment and price for their part in the Holocaust is in the near future. I do realize that the survivors want to see justice in their lifetime for a tragedy of this scope, but knowing the eternal fire is waiting around the corner, and it will be inescapable, should be a great deal of peace of mind for most. Zuroff, is really putting the German judicial system to the test, let’s hope he has a favorable outcome. I hope there is such an advocate in Iraq, Turkey, and the People’s Republic of China, as well as several other areas where people have and are killed by the government.
This article was actually pretty hard for me to read. The Holocaust was devasting for many reasons including the loss of human lives to the brainwashing and leadership of an evil dictator. Although I found it difficult to overlook the real criminal being Hitler and the guards were just brainwashed evil minions of his leadership, a crime is still a crime. Just like a 99 year old serial killer would still be brought to justice if evidence proved he committed the murder 70 years earlier, the same should be held for those involved in the Holocaust. The victims of the Holocaust deserve justice, regardless of the time that has passed.
The Holocaust was an event in history that left many innocent people dead, and a lot of families torn. I think that it is a good idea German authorities have reopened hundreds of dormant investigations of Nazi death camp guards. Some might believe that it may bring little to no closure to the surviving families that have lost loved ones. But, I believe that it will bring some satisfaction and maybe closure to the families. The U.S has no statute of limitations on murder and I know that people who have lost loved ones to homicide seek justice no matter how long it takes. Although time is the enemy and a lot of these people are very old, we should still look at the horrific crimes they committed, instead of their age. Remember these Nazi guards had a chance to live their lives, but stole that chance from innocent people during the Holocaust.
I definitely think that the Nazi prison guards should be held responsible for their actions. I feel like this is something that should have happened many years ago, however. If it were, then I feel like it would have been much more effective. At the same time, no matter how many years have passed, it doesn't take away from the tragedy that was a direct result of these man's actions. They all had choices, and they chose to destroy countless innocent people. I think this is something that the Holocaust survivors deserve to see in their lifetime because they have experienced more than any of us can ever imagine and they deserve to see justice. I think that for them, just hearing a guilty verdict is enough. Yes the Nazi guards are old, but they have lived their lives as free men and should see some sort of punishment, no matter what their age is.
I am all for getting justice I believe if you commit a crime there will be consequences. But this new prosecution on "war crimes" I am not sure i agree with it one bit. When the people you are prosecuting time going against them what are you trying to do, put them in prison for life? The way i look at it all your doing is creating more hatred. If you convict a 91 year man, thats someones grandpa, husban, brother, dad, great grandpa etc... I dont know but something tells me that 91 year old man has tought his children, grandchildren that what he did was not right or he might not even wanted his family to know the evil things that went on. Now that you brought it up and arrested him your gonna angry all those people and now create an even bigger problem to come later on down the road.
I know many want to hate on Hitler, I am with you, but the man did know how to operate. He had thousands of people hating on a certain race. Genocide is what I like to call this. The Holocaust is such a terrible and tragic event. The brutality that victims of the Holocaust faced is mind boggling. The Holocaust has always been intriguing to learn about, but I still feel as if there is more to learn from that time period. And Jesus, I understand where you are coming from with the man being someone's father, grandfather, etc....but does that make it okay for his actions in the past Hell no!! He should be punished. Seeing how a life sentence for this man will only mean 9 years of serving time or less I would guess, the victims of the Holocaust deserve that. Their family members deserve that. I dont care that he is 91 years old, if we found Osama Bin Laden when he was 91 years old, would we still want him punished/dead? I would say yes...
The Holocaust was one of the single most dramatic, fully documented and extreme case of genocide. About 2/3 of the entire population of the Jews were targeted by the Nazis and died in their hands. I believe the Nazi guards deserve to be punished for the millions of lives they killed. Yes, something should have been done long ago to try to convict them but the technology and resources back then doesn't compare to the technology and resources we have now that can prove their participation in the murder. It's better now than never. Even though they're old, they were able to live their life and see the world for decades after decades. Those who were innocent and just happened to be Jews were killed and never got to live their life. So 91 years old or not, he should still serve his time.
This doesn’t quite convince me. I understand the gravity of their crimes but as mentioned by one of the above bloggers, too much time has passed. By saying this I am by no means justifying the acts committed earlier in their lives but what good would it do now? These people are probably already dead or really old. I, like the majority of the people familiar with the Holocaust, find their crimes terrible and unforgivable but something should have been done about it then, not now. Besides, what if some of the members have genuinely realized their error and have since been doing everything in their power to mend some of their errors? What then, shall we repay wrong with wrong? But maybe that’s the religious person in me.. This could, however, as mentioned by Dania bring about a fear of the government. People who think about committing crimes would have to think twice because now they’d have to fear their entire lives of being caught.
I am not sure I agree with this new prosecution of “war crimes” because so much time has passed. As time passes, people forget things, leave things out, and therefore the truth can never be fully told. I think Germany is opening up a can of worms that really doesn’t need to be opened again. High officials have been prosecuted for these offenses; do we really need to start prosecuting the guards after so many years? I don’t think putting elderly people with heath, mental and a short amount of life expectancy in jail gives justice to those people who died. Another problem I have will this issue deals with the aspect of appeals. The prosecutors know that this case in particular is under appeals, and even so they are doing huge amounts of investigations to try and find both victims and suspects. If this case is overturned based on appeals then the German government has wasted numerous amounts of man-hours and money to try and find people for no reason. They also had no definitive evidence proving this man was a guard at the concentration camp so how do they plan on proving the crimes for other guards?
ReplyDeleteGuards of Nazi concentration camps could most definitely be charged with participation in Government crime, but as Bailey said, to what extent will mourners gain satisfaction from their delayed prosecution? I also agree with the fact that this must be an extremely costly and drawn out process. However, what cannot be argued with is the fact that there are absolutely no age limits or a statute of limitations to a crime involving murder. I understand why German authorities would be pursuing these people even though they are few. Here in the US “cold-case” units are set up in various places to bring those to justice for crimes unsolved from many years ago up to now. Would we be more lenient here for an 80 year old man that participated in the murder hundreds of people, for example? It doesn’t matter if he’s in a nursing home or has a wife and kids, the American justice system will still indict him. As far as I’m concerned, you do the crime, you do the time!!
ReplyDeleteThe Holocaust strikes a horrible event in history and provokes horrific images and memories to many. The Holocaust occurred many years ago and it is very surprising to see that German authorities are reopening hundreds of dormant investigations. Members being investigated are of very high ages, going all the way up to the age of 90. I believe they should serve some time in prison for what they did but the “reopening” of the files and the investigations should of took action many years ago. What will end up happening is the taxpayers will pay for them to be in jail for what five years? Waste of money, I believe they will be penalized soon enough when they face God. The actions that occurred during the Holocaust were a state sponsored murder. Democide took place and many Jews lost their lives. The article states that they want to bring justice to as many as they can, and I believe they should do that. It’s very rough to read about the Holocaust.
ReplyDeletePersecuting Nazis
ReplyDeleteI think what happened during the holocaust is tragic and the people responsible should be held accountable. Even though our constitution gives us the right to a speedy trial, I think this is a special exception. In addition, I am concerned about the age of these suspects. At the age of 91 (or more), these ex- death camp guards may not be in shape to stand trial or even alive. What will prosecutors do? Send an old man already dying to prison? I think it is great to hold them responsible however, after so many years is it possible to find a punishment for them? Also after seven decades these guards are being prosecuted should people start to fear the government?
After reading this particular post, and some of the comments previously given, I honestly, am in no way upset by the age of these suspects. I feel that age is a part of human life, and this is probably a far fetched example, but Hugh Hefner, is old, and living a promiscuous lifestyle, so, these suspects are old and should be punished. The choices they made when they were Nazi death camp guards are choices that should have serious consequences. I agree, with the families of the death camp survivors, in that the trials should be figured out quickly and these suspects should receive proper punishment, and I add that the punishment should be fair, and age should not be the issue. These people are old and wrinkly from the outside, but that has nothing to do with the choices they made and everything to do with the people they are. They may be old now, but they killed millions of people, including children/babies and then other old people.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that there are criminals still out there living their lives with no regard for what they did to all of those people in the concentration camps is terrible. The survivors of the families that lost their lives have been trying to get this issue resolved for too long and it doesn't matter how old they are. The appeals have taken too long and it is interesting that it's coming up again. I agree with some of the comments above in that they probably have been living a hell on earth and God will make the decision of punishment.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how much time has passed, a crime is a crime. The guards and anyone involved in the success of concentration camps, in my eyes, is a criminal. However, I agree with Bailey in the sense that overtime, things such as documentation and memory has been lost and there is no real way to prove who was a guard and who wasn’t. The guards of concentration camps during the Holocaust should have been prosecuted in a timely manner in order to ensure that the men being prosecuted are rightly convicted. Along with the evidence of the cases being unreliable, you have to deal with the fact that if you do find someone who is, in fact, guilty of such a heinous crime, they are going to be harder to deal with than younger inmates in prison. Not that I think they should get away with this crime, but do they really want to spend the time and money convicting men who don’t even have that much longer to live?
ReplyDeleteThe German Nazi era is an excellent example of war crimes, state organized crimes and corrupt state just for starters. The single most fully documented and extreme case of genocide, the Nazi regime was poisoned from the very core. Germany is right not to let any part of the death camp participants go unresolved. Given the average age of the perpetrators I do think the ultimate judgment and price for their part in the Holocaust is in the near future. I do realize that the survivors want to see justice in their lifetime for a tragedy of this scope, but knowing the eternal fire is waiting around the corner, and it will be inescapable, should be a great deal of peace of mind for most. Zuroff, is really putting the German judicial system to the test, let’s hope he has a favorable outcome. I hope there is such an advocate in Iraq, Turkey, and the People’s Republic of China, as well as several other areas where people have and are killed by the government.
ReplyDeleteThis article was actually pretty hard for me to read. The Holocaust was devasting for many reasons including the loss of human lives to the brainwashing and leadership of an evil dictator. Although I found it difficult to overlook the real criminal being Hitler and the guards were just brainwashed evil minions of his leadership, a crime is still a crime. Just like a 99 year old serial killer would still be brought to justice if evidence proved he committed the murder 70 years earlier, the same should be held for those involved in the Holocaust. The victims of the Holocaust deserve justice, regardless of the time that has passed.
ReplyDeleteThe Holocaust was an event in history that left many innocent people dead, and a lot of families torn. I think that it is a good idea German authorities have reopened hundreds of dormant investigations of Nazi death camp guards. Some might believe that it may bring little to no closure to the surviving families that have lost loved ones. But, I believe that it will bring some satisfaction and maybe closure to the families. The U.S has no statute of limitations on murder and I know that people who have lost loved ones to homicide seek justice no matter how long it takes. Although time is the enemy and a lot of these people are very old, we should still look at the horrific crimes they committed, instead of their age. Remember these Nazi guards had a chance to live their lives, but stole that chance from innocent people during the Holocaust.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that the Nazi prison guards should be held responsible for their actions. I feel like this is something that should have happened many years ago, however. If it were, then I feel like it would have been much more effective. At the same time, no matter how many years have passed, it doesn't take away from the tragedy that was a direct result of these man's actions. They all had choices, and they chose to destroy countless innocent people. I think this is something that the Holocaust survivors deserve to see in their lifetime because they have experienced more than any of us can ever imagine and they deserve to see justice. I think that for them, just hearing a guilty verdict is enough. Yes the Nazi guards are old, but they have lived their lives as free men and should see some sort of punishment, no matter what their age is.
ReplyDeleteI am all for getting justice I believe if you commit a crime there will be consequences. But this new prosecution on "war crimes" I am not sure i agree with it one bit. When the people you are prosecuting time going against them what are you trying to do, put them in prison for life? The way i look at it all your doing is creating more hatred. If you convict a 91 year man, thats someones grandpa, husban, brother, dad, great grandpa etc... I dont know but something tells me that 91 year old man has tought his children, grandchildren that what he did was not right or he might not even wanted his family to know the evil things that went on. Now that you brought it up and arrested him your gonna angry all those people and now create an even bigger problem to come later on down the road.
ReplyDeleteI know many want to hate on Hitler, I am with you, but the man did know how to operate. He had thousands of people hating on a certain race. Genocide is what I like to call this. The Holocaust is such a terrible and tragic event. The brutality that victims of the Holocaust faced is mind boggling. The Holocaust has always been intriguing to learn about, but I still feel as if there is more to learn from that time period. And Jesus, I understand where you are coming from with the man being someone's father, grandfather, etc....but does that make it okay for his actions in the past Hell no!! He should be punished. Seeing how a life sentence for this man will only mean 9 years of serving time or less I would guess, the victims of the Holocaust deserve that. Their family members deserve that. I dont care that he is 91 years old, if we found Osama Bin Laden when he was 91 years old, would we still want him punished/dead? I would say yes...
ReplyDeleteThe Holocaust was one of the single most dramatic, fully documented and extreme case of genocide. About 2/3 of the entire population of the Jews were targeted by the Nazis and died in their hands. I believe the Nazi guards deserve to be punished for the millions of lives they killed. Yes, something should have been done long ago to try to convict them but the technology and resources back then doesn't compare to the technology and resources we have now that can prove their participation in the murder. It's better now than never. Even though they're old, they were able to live their life and see the world for decades after decades. Those who were innocent and just happened to be Jews were killed and never got to live their life. So 91 years old or not, he should still serve his time.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn’t quite convince me. I understand the gravity of their crimes but as mentioned by one of the above bloggers, too much time has passed. By saying this I am by no means justifying the acts committed earlier in their lives but what good would it do now? These people are probably already dead or really old. I, like the majority of the people familiar with the Holocaust, find their crimes terrible and unforgivable but something should have been done about it then, not now. Besides, what if some of the members have genuinely realized their error and have since been doing everything in their power to mend some of their errors? What then, shall we repay wrong with wrong? But maybe that’s the religious person in me..
ReplyDeleteThis could, however, as mentioned by Dania bring about a fear of the government. People who think about committing crimes would have to think twice because now they’d have to fear their entire lives of being caught.