Ex Nazi Guard to stand trial

They failed to prosecute thousands of war criminals in the immediate post war period.
Many Nazi war criminals simply went back to their old homes.
A disgrace to humanity.
Even those found guilty ended up with reduced sentences.
Cold war politics has a lot to answer for.
 
To out him/her is enough at the age of 100 - they are likely to die before convicted. This is probably why this is going ahead.
 
Its a hard one for me, I imagine many were sadistic b***ds that deserve to face trial no matter what, however I’d expect a fair few were following orders and in fear of reprisals or even their own life should they not follow them and those ones for me should be left alone. It’s how to tell which are which when so long has passed and very few victims will still be alive.
 
Its a hard one for me, I imagine many were sadistic b***ds that deserve to face trial no matter what, however I’d expect a fair few were following orders and in fear of reprisals or even their own life should they not follow them and those ones for me should be left alone. It’s how to tell which are which when so long has passed and very few victims will still be alive.
Fair comment, I guess it depends on the true strength of evidence held really.
 
Its a hard one for me, I imagine many were sadistic b***ds that deserve to face trial no matter what, however I’d expect a fair few were following orders and in fear of reprisals or even their own life should they not follow them and those ones for me should be left alone. It’s how to tell which are which when so long has passed and very few victims will still be alive.
That was what was decided at the Nuremburg Trials - following orders is no longer a valid defence.
 
We are talking about a concentration camp guard not a soldier on the front line.

yeah I get that but those guards were soldiers and soldiers generally don’t get to pick their own posting. I also fully understand why it was decided following orders is not a valid excuse. I just expect a fair few of those guards may of felt they had no choice with their or their families lives at risk if they didn’t. Many of them could of been in a complete no win situation. Many officers or senior NCO’s even now would make your life hell if you ignored orders. Let alone having cold hearted murderers in charge of you.

that said if I was a victim or a descendant of a victim I’d probably want the book throwing at all of them.
 
Justice. No matter how long ago. Justice for the dead and tortured.
It should never end.
 
Its a hard one for me, I imagine many were sadistic b***ds that deserve to face trial no matter what, however I’d expect a fair few were following orders and in fear of reprisals or even their own life should they not follow them and those ones for me should be left alone. It’s how to tell which are which when so long has passed and very few victims will still be alive.
Surely that would be part of the defense on the courts though? Otherwise every nazi would use that reasoning.
 
Don't see a lot of value in sending some 100 year old guy to prison really.

I'm not even sure throwing the book at them would necessarily mean justice was seen to be done. Can see it backfiring and giving them some sort of sympathetic/martyr status with neonazis.

Maybe if they do go to trial they could be given some sort of community service type punishment. Make them speak to history students or something. Could be a great resource.
 
They knew what they were doing and they were not frightened it to it, neither. What is really frightening is some were quite normal people, boy and girl next door types.

They maybe knew no better, they had lived most of their lives in a dictatorship that was sealed off from the rest of the world. They were fed lie after lie they told certain other groups were vermin, that they were not human, that they were the cause of their problems. These young guards were in a society in ther formative years where conformity was almost total. If you do that to a 8 year old for 10 years you can get a strange 18 year old. Others guards were just sadists and sociopaths, who probably would have been in prison in a normal society rather than be a senior Camp guard. After the war the Allies had to develop an educational and psychological programme called denazification for about a third of the Germany population!
 
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Yeah coz its not like it was really bad what they did.
Just following orders and it was so long ago.

I didn't say anything like that. Of course what the nazis did was awful.

Justice, No matter how long it takes.

I suppose my point is I don't necessarily think "justice" always by default means prison/punishment. 🤷‍♂️
 
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For any one interested, I would recommend watching the BBC series 'Auschwitz: The Nazis and 'The Final Solution', brilliant, yet shocking insight into what went on there.
 
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