90 year old charged over Nazi massacre

90 year old charged over Nazi massacre

www.edition.cnn.com

Berlin, Germany (CNN) -- A 90-year-old man from northern Germany has been charged with 58 counts of murder for the killings of Jewish forced laborers in the final days of World War Two.

The man, who was not named, was a member of the feared SS serving in what is now Austria when he allegedly carried out the crimes, the state court in Duisburg, western Germany, said Tuesday.

A state office responsible for the prosecution of Nazi war crimes filed the charges.

On March 29, 1945, the man brought at least 57 Jewish forced laborers in several groups to a wooded area where they were forced t

(visit the link for the full news article)

Interesting. There seems to be a lot more trials for ex nazi's as of late don't you all think?

There are a few going on at the moment and they seem to just keep pulling them out of a hat and prosecuting them.

I wonder if they will attempt to extradite any of those who came through with project paperclip. You know, all those NASA guys lol.

In any case it's nice to see some people get the justice they deserve. Old age should not be an excuse to run from being exempt for your mistakes.

Thoughts?

~Keeper

www.edition.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Maybe there is more to this, but then again maybe not.
He is a murderer, joseph fritzl was very old aswell.

What ties do you possibly think Paperclip could have with this man?

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
Interesting. There seems to be a lot more trials for ex nazi's as of late don't you all think?

There are a few going on at the moment and they seem to just keep pulling them out of a hat and prosecuting them.

Probably because they are all old and about to die anyway...that way justice is served...and so was their fruitful lives.

Just my 2-cents

Originally posted by Aggie Man

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
Interesting. There seems to be a lot more trials for ex nazi's as of late don't you all think?

There are a few going on at the moment and they seem to just keep pulling them out of a hat and prosecuting them.

Probably because they are all old and about to die anyway...that way justice is served...and so was their fruitful lives.

Just my 2-cents

Fruitful how? Just wondering. I'll keep typing so that it's not just a one line reply.

Nice find, Keeper. I have noticed a significant up-swing in criminal prosecutions of former Nazis, recently, as well. Why such an up-swing over 60 years after the the war is kind of strange? However, if the men committed such heinous crimes they should at least be made to go to their graves with a conviction at the very least. With most of these men and their old age, prison would be of little use for punishment. However, if they go to their grave with the legacy of being murderers in the eye's of the public, I suppose it is an adequate punishment.

Personally, as long as concrete evidence is available to link them to war crimes, then by all means prosecute, regardless of age or the passage of time. However, I am kind of on the fence regarding circumstantial evidence or hearsay in crimes as old as these, but if concrete evidence is available to levy a charge against a particular suspect, then by all means, prosecute the murdering scum.

In terms of "Operation Paper," Clip that is another can of worms that has yet to be opened and vetted. Many on the US space program were known and refuted members of the Nazi Party, with Wernher Von Braun being the most notable. He was behind Nazi Germany's V-2 Project, and is alleged to be aware of slave labor being used for such a project.

On August 15, 1944, von Braun wrote a letter to Albin Sawatzki, manager of the V-2 production, admitting that he personally picked labor slaves from the Buchenwald concentration camp, who, he admitted 25 years later in an interview, had been in a "pitiful shape".[3]

In Wernher von Braun: Crusader for Space, numerous statements by von Braun show he was aware of the conditions but felt completely unable to change them. A friend quotes von Braun speaking of a visit to Mittelwerk:

It is hellish. My spontaneous reaction was to talk to one of the SS guards, only to be told with unmistakable harshness that I should mind my own business, or find myself in the same striped fatigues!... I realized that any attempt of reasoning on humane grounds would be utterly futile. (Page 44)

When asked if von Braun could have protested against the brutal treatment of the slave laborers, von Braun team member Konrad Dannenberg told The Huntsville Times, "If he had done it, in my opinion, he would have been shot on the spot."[31]

Others claim von Braun engaged in brutal treatment or approved of it. Guy Morand, a French resistance fighter who was a prisoner in Dora, testified in 1995 that after an apparent sabotage attempt:

Without even listening to my explanations, [von Braun] ordered the Meister to have me given 25 strokes...Then, judging that the strokes weren't sufficiently hard, he ordered I be flogged more vigorously...von Braun made me translate that I deserved much more, that in fact I deserved to be hanged...I would say his cruelty, of which I was personally a victim, are, I would say, an eloquent testimony to his Nazi fanaticism.

en.wikipedia.org...

When these men were ushered into the country under the veil of secrecy following the war, the Cold War had already begun. To be fair, the Soviet Union used alleged war criminals in their projects as well.

However, they should have been made to speak on the allegations made against them in a court. Unfortunately, they were not, and their alleged crimes remained sequestered by the US Government. You mentioned NASA, but the CIA utilized Nazi expatriates in their espionage activities in Western Europe, as well.

One of the most outstanding failures, outlined by historian Norman Goda of Ohio University, was Heinz Felfe, an SS officer who rose through the ranks of West Germany's Gehlen organization to become its counterintelligence chief in 1955.

The Gehlen organization, an anti-Soviet spy agency headed by Richard Gehlen, a former German general during World War II, was a magnet for ex-Nazis who wanted U.S. sanction; the organization was sponsored by the United States.

Felfe was exposed as a Soviet spy in 1961, but not before he had done considerable damage, some revealed for the first time in the papers. For instance, Felfe successfully advocated for greater cooperation between the Gehlen group and the CIA, which made him "the West German official most knowledgeable about CIA operations in Eastern Europe," according to Goda.

www.jweekly.com...

Here is another murky situation involving the US Government after the Second World War involving Adolf Eichmann, father of the "Nuremberg Laws," of 1935. We all know what transpired after that.

In another instance documented by Timothy Naftali of the University of Virginia, the CIA learned as early as 1958 that Eichmann, the architect of the destruction of European Jewry, was living in Argentina under an alias.

The CIA refrained from action because of its policy of not pursuing Nazi war criminals.

In addition, BND, the West German spy agency that had reported the information to the CIA, feared repercussions for Hans Globke, the West German national security adviser who had been close to Eichmann when both men were Nazis; Globke had assisted in drafting the notorious 1935 Nuremberg laws, which effectively removed Jews from German public life.

In fact, once Eichmann was captured by Israel in 1960 — with no help from the CIA or other agencies — the CIA went the extra mile for Globke.

Eichmann paid for his defense by selling his autobiography to Life magazine. Documents show that the CIA persuaded Life to drop references to Globke.

www.jweekly.com...

By all means read the entire article, very interesting stuff. However, in relation to the topic, I, like you, feel these men should be charged as long as adequate evidence is presented at trial. Very interesting article, keep up the good work!

Originally posted by TruthIsPower
Fruitful how? Just wondering. I'll keep typing so that it's not just a one line reply.

Fruitful in the sense that the guy committed a crime 64 years ago and has gotten the opportunity to live a full, free lifetime w/o punishment for his crime. Now that his life is winding down, arrest him...prosecute him...send him to jail. Punishing him now just seems a bit contrived...for show. Most people would be considered lucky to live to 90+ years old...Now that's "fruitful".

reply to post by Aggie Man


Yes, that is so sad, being able to be free and live how he wanted to for the most part, decades after those he murdered.

He is of such an advanced age, he probably doesn't even remember what he did, so, what's the point, really? I mean, mostly, it will just probably bring humiliation for his surviving family members.

Originally posted by Blanca Rose
reply to post by Aggie Man

 

Yes, that is so sad, being able to be free and live how he wanted to for the most part, decades after those he murdered.

He is of such an advanced age, he probably doesn't even remember what he did, so, what's the point, really? I mean, mostly, it will just probably bring humiliation for his surviving family members.

You are right, it is sad that he has been able to walk as a free man for so long. However, I look at it this way, better late than never. At least, as I have said earlier in my previous post, he goes to his grave with the legacy of being a War Criminal and mass-murderer in the public record. That alone is justice, with in itself. Whenever his name is mentioned after his passing it will always be attached to that of a murderer. So in that regard, at least justice is served, and he goes to his grave as a murderer, and not a free man.

Prosecution charges really do need to be brought about swiftly for people to have any confidence in the justice system. But sixty four years after the event ? How will they prove the charge ; where's the witnesses ? As old as the accused, no doubt, if they're alive at all.

This wicked crime was committed in March 1945. Only a month earlier the English and American air force bombed Dresden, killing tens of thousands of civilians ... that was every bit as wicked an act as this massacre.

It's time to let these crimes go, that's how I feel.

It's not in the public interest to prosecute such crimes anymore.

Better hurry up, find them all, trial them, find them guilty and execute them.

If you don't hurry, they'll die of old age and you'll miss your chance to kill them or jail them for the rest of their lives.

Wouldn't the money, time, effort and resources be put to better use helping today and tomorrow, rather than digging around 65 years ago?

It's not a case of forgetting the past... more of a case of putting it to rest and moving on.

How many Allied soldiers and commanders have ever been tried with war crimes? Can someone tell me? Did all the Allies fight the war with honour and integrity?

Allied War Crimes in WWII.