94 Year Old Former Guard At Auschwitz Jailed

[stony]

That case could be made of course but I won't uphold one over the other as I'm against mass weaponry production and the use of such for destroying civilised populations. I'm not saying this man didn't do anything wrong, he was a coward and possibly a sadistic one at that, I just want transparency, war should never be looked on as glorious, even in "triumph" it's a sad state of affairs.

I agree that war should never be looked on as glorious but sometimes it's necessary and fighting the Nazis and everything they stood for was necessary. Every serviceman and woman who served Britain has my utmost thanks and respect. Sometimes you don't have a choice but to fight.

 

[daztrueblue91]

What about the men who carpet bombed innocent Germans? Or were they just orders? Any person who was actively involved in the murder of another innocent human should be punished if that's how people want things done. So for me full transparency or nothing.

I don't think anyone is suggesting otherwise.

Personally I wouldn't class a member of the SS as being innocent. They would have chosen to be in the Nazi party and would have fully believed in their ideology. There is a huge difference in being a German in 1942 and being a Nazi member.

Back onto your point, many of the Germans who lived in the conquered part of the Third Reich, whether it be Austria, Czechoslovakia or Poland were treated appalling badly in the aftermath of WW2. The Czech's even used concentration camps on the innocent Germans where many of them starved to death and the Allied Powers stood back and allowed it. You can even look at the Atomic Bombs that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima as disgraceful war crimes by Truman as the USA.

That said, these events are reactionary and whilst still wrong, they are more understandable that what the Nazi's tried to achieve.

 

[Yates]

I agree that war should never be looked on as glorious but sometimes it's necessary and fighting the Nazis and everything they stood for was necessary. Every serviceman and woman who served Britain has my utmost thanks and respect. Sometimes you don't have a choice but to fight.

If they felt it was the right thing to do then I can't say they were wrong in that moment but my point covers everyone, the people of Germany were manipulated through fear and patriotism and were poorly educated if they had said no which many probably wanted to but were too scared due to the structure of society. I hate it mate, I don't hate many things as it does nothing for you but I hate the fear that's instilled in you so you comply.

 

[Corky]

I don't think anyone is suggesting otherwise.

Personally I wouldn't class a member of the SS as being innocent. They would have chosen to be in the Nazi party and would have fully believed in their ideology. There is a huge difference in being a German in 1942 and being a Nazi member.

Back onto your point, many of the Germans who lived in the conquered part of the Third Reich, whether it be Austria, Czechoslovakia or Poland were treated appalling badly in the aftermath of WW2. The Czech's even used concentration camps on the innocent Germans where many of them starved to death and the Allied Powers stood back and allowed it. You can even look at the Atomic Bombs that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima as disgraceful war crimes by Truman as the USA.

That said, these events are reactionary and whilst still wrong, they are more understandable that what the Nazi's tried to achieve.

Britain an its empire was not without genocide, look as Tasmania. No moral high ground to be had.

 

[Yates]

I don't think anyone is suggesting otherwise.

Personally I wouldn't class a member of the SS as being innocent. They would have chosen to be in the Nazi party and would have fully believed in their ideology. There is a huge difference in being a German in 1942 and being a Nazi member.

Back onto your point, many of the Germans who lived in the conquered part of the Third Reich, whether it be Austria, Czechoslovakia or Poland were treated appalling badly in the aftermath of WW2. The Czech's even used concentration camps on the innocent Germans where many of them starved to death and the Allied Powers stood back and allowed it. You can even look at the Atomic Bombs that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima as disgraceful war crimes by Truman as the USA.

That said, these events are reactionary and whilst still wrong, they are more understandable that what the Nazi's tried to achieve.

It's all abhorrent to me mate, the regular men, women and children rarely benefit from war. I'd have it all in the section of how not to act as a human. I do understand self defense and if anyone was truly under serious threat then fighting back is necessary but within reason unlike the bombings of Japan

 

[stony]

Britain an its empire was not without genocide, look as Tasmania. No moral high ground to be had.

Not to mention the fact that we invented concentration camps.

 

[daztrueblue91]

Britain an its empire was not without genocide, look as Tasmania. No moral high ground to be had.

I agree and it's one of the huge problems in how kids learn history in schools.

It's always a matter of Britain and USA being the good guys standing up against the evil Nazi party.

Whilst I would not and could not argue that the Nazi's were not pure evil, the allied powers were not without their fair share of atrocities.

The war guilt clause in the aftermath of WW1 remains one of the most hypocritical acts in history.

 

[daztrueblue91]

It's all abhorrent to me mate, the regular men, women and children rarely benefit from war. I'd have it all in the section of how not to act as a human. I do understand self defense and if anyone was truly under serious threat then fighting back is necessary but within reason unlike the bombings of Japan

I know we are going well off topic here but the biggest problem I have with this whole issue of arresting people for war crimes isn't that they don't deserve it, but how selective it is.

The Germans signed a treaty admitting that they were to blame for the First World War yet the Kaiser was not put on trial for his role in the war. Likewise Emperor Hirohito was not arrested post WW2 and when you look at some of the atrocities that the Japanese were culpable of such as Nanking then it makes a mockery of the system. Then we have the victors dropping atomic bombs on a country which is on the verge of surrendering or raping and demanding territories from conquered Nazi territory.

Back on topic, I believe that any SS guard involved at any concentration/extermination camp should be brought to justice.

 

[Yates]

I know we are going well off topic here but the biggest problem I have with this whole issue of arresting people for war crimes isn't that they don't deserve it, but how selective it is.

The Germans signed a treaty admitting that they were to blame for the First World War yet the Kaiser was not put on trial for his role in the war. Likewise Emperor Hirohito was not arrested post WW2 and when you look at some of the atrocities that the Japanese were culpable of such as Nanking then it makes a mockery of the system. Then we have the victors dropping atomic bombs on a country which is on the verge of surrendering or raping and demanding territories from conquered Nazi territory.

Back on topic, I believe that any SS guard involved at any concentration/extermination camp should be brought to justice.

Exactly my original point mate, get them all in, including anyone who has profited from such atrocities, cease their assets and investigate any involvement. Why should people get rich off the back of people's suffering? In saying tht, this could go way off topic!

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

I don't think anyone is suggesting otherwise.

Personally I wouldn't class a member of the SS as being innocent. They would have chosen to be in the Nazi party and would have fully believed in their ideology. There is a huge difference in being a German in 1942 and being a Nazi member.

I don't think everyone who was in the Nazi party bought into the ideology. Some will have merely been attracted to their rather natty uniforms.