94 Year Old Former Guard At Auschwitz Jailed

[Barcon]

Five years? Not sure what he did exactly but my mate did two thirds of a 7 year stretch for manslaughter.

 

[bluethrunthru]

For 5 Years..
Correct decision or not ?

Yes - at 94 its effectively a life sentence

The main thing is with all these convictions is the message it sends out in that whenever an individual commits abhorrent acts like genocide then no matter how old they live to be they will never be safe they always have to look over their shoulders because right minded civilisation will never rest until they are caught and convicted. For that reason alone men like this should always face punishment.

 

[uncle b]

Exactly what @Barcon is saying, I've had mates serve more bird for petty crime, guilty by association at least and then 5 years still ain't enough. I don't care if he served bread (if that) or pressed the gas button. There all deserve death.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

dunno but for some reason I just find the fact he was finally prosecuted to be much more significant and important than the jail sentence. At his age the length of time is neither here nor there really, it's the fact he's finally been done for it that matters imo.

 

[crizack]

Mad how there are still people alive who witnessed and took part in it first hand.

 

[Machiavelli]

He wasn't an accountant. People are getting him mixed up with Oskar Groening, who was jailed for 4 years last year. He met the incoming transports and escorted them to the gas chambers, according to the prosecution. And it's a myth that they had to carry out those duties on pain of death. There are plenty of documented cases of guards who refused to serve and were posted elsewhere.

A survivor (who was a child at the time) was on the news tonight, she said he had separated her from her mother and he was quite heavy handed with her, so he was involved, definitely not an accountant - she said her mother said to her that this was the end. :(

 

[Wilf Wild 1937]

A survivor (who was a child at the time) was on the news tonight, she said he had separated her from her mother and he was quite heavy handed with her, so he was involved, definitely not an accountant - she said her mother said to her that this was the end. :(

I saw that and yes it was very moving. The brutal reality though was in separating her from her mother he saved her life. I'm not defending him in anyway, shape or form but the last thing you want in that situation is a compassionate guard who lets the whole family march off together to the gas chamber. I guess that must have happened at times. The whole thing really doesn't bear thinking about.

 

[johnmc]

You've got it wrong. Guards at Auschwitz were in the SS. The SS was the armed wing of the Nazi party. He chose to join the Nazi party along with only around 7% of Germans. 93% of Germans weren't Nazi party members (although many supported Hitler). Let him rot.

Cheers.

 

[BigOscar]

I guess the important thing is just the finding him guilty, the time is neither here nor there to someone his age. He's either going to be sitting in a hospital room in a hospice or sitting in a hospital room in a prison, no one that age really leaves the house much anyway. I don't know how with it he still is or how active, but a part of me thinks it would be more useful if he was able to be used as a force for good, made to make speeches and tell the world about how he got to the situation he ended up in in an attempt to help stop it happening again, as no one just one day volunteers to work at a death camp. But at 94 that might be a bit of a big ask.

 

[BlueKingEll]

Why has it taken 50years to imprison him?
Probably not much point jailing him at this stage,( his jail will probably be like an old people's home), he's lived his life now. He should of served the last 50 years and be up for parole now

He was held in Britain after the war, around 1947ish the yanks had had enough of prosecuting war criminals and were concentrating more on rebuilding Germany due to the threat of communisum. All ex guards were repatriated by 1950