Raid on German homes for 1944 activities

[Phidippides]

This happened not long ago:

German police raid homes of six men over 1944 Nazi massacre

What did they expect to find?  Keepsakes from the war that were 65+ years old?

[scout1067]

At this point I wouldn't be surprised to see some Europeans want to dig up the graves of war criminals so they can spit on the remains as punishment.  The search for Nazis never ends, witness what they have put Demjanjuk through.

[Omer]

At this point I wouldn't be surprised to see some Europeans want to dig up the graves of war criminals so they can spit on the remains as punishment.  The search for Nazis never ends, witness what they have put Demjanjuk through.

Would you say that Nazis are persecuted ?

[scout1067]

Would you say that Nazis are persecuted ?

No, I would not say they are persecuted.  I would however, say that punishing Nazi's has reached the point of diminishing returns and perhaps it is even time for people to start looking more forward than backward.  Germany loves beating themselves up to prove they have really changed and the rest of Europe loves bringing Nazism back to the news to remind themselves that Germans are still evil.  It is all kind of petty almost 70 years later I think.  I thought Europe wanted to move on?

[skiguy]

They thought that after WWI too, didn't they?

[Omer]

No, I would not say they are persecuted.  I would however, say that punishing Nazi's has reached the point of diminishing returns and perhaps it is even time for people to start looking more forward than backward.  Germany loves beating themselves up to prove they have really changed and the rest of Europe loves bringing Nazism back to the news to remind themselves that Germans are still evil.  It is all kind of petty almost 70 years later I think.  I thought Europe wanted to move on?

I can understand your point about this subject however the ones who can really "forgive" are the victims. Nazism is still and will indefinitely remain evil just like other people who committed genocides or mass murders : communists, Khmer rouges, Akazu and Interhamwe, etc.
You can't just invoke time or "progress" for forgiveness or amnesia.  If you or your close ones were targeted for what you are and not for what you did, you wouldn't even think of tolerance for the executioners, even 70 years after.

[scout1067]

Not once did I mention forgiveness or amnesia nor am I advocating for either.  I am just trying to point out that going after the folks thy are going after now looks petty and unproductive.  I just think they should go after people for crimes of commission not omission.  They are using almost useless scraps of information t go after guys now.

[skiguy]

The ones they are going after were only 19 at the time of the alleged crime.  They were probably just obeying orders. 

[scout1067]

Well, as Nuremberg made clear, "just following orders" is no defense.  Everybody sould have a moral compass and cannot legally be made to do something that is patently illegal, we still have free will after all regardless of how young or impressionable a soldier is.  I knew that killing innocents was wrong when I was 19, I would assume anyone raised in a Christian nation would know the same thing.  I think that is a pretty fair assumption to make, don't you?

[donroc]

Heat of battle is one thing, unintended collateral damage another.

Obeying orders to commit cold-blooded sadism on and murder of non-combatant civilians of all ages and genders, especially on racial grounds, is inexcusable. I read and wish I could remember where that no German who disobeyed such orders was ever executed. The Eastern Europeans and Western collaborators who aided the Nazis in those crimes were all willing participants. "It shall not happen again" is a well voiced mantra. Huzzahs for those who continue to hunt and prosecute WWII war criminals.

[scout1067]

I am not trying to sound pro-Nazi.  I think the real criminals should be hunted, those that were making decisions and giving orders.  By and large those people were not 19 year old camp guards but older people who are most likely dead now and answering to God for their horrible acts in this world.

[Phidippides]

I am not trying to sound pro-Nazi.  I think the real criminals should be hunted, those that were making decisions and giving orders.  By and large those people were not 19 year old camp guards but older people who are most likely dead now and answering to God for their horrible acts in this world.

The Jews were victims of one of the most unspeakable crimes against humanity committed in world history.  Bringing people to justice for their crimes is obviously in order.  At the same time, there may be a point of diminishing returns, when there are so few people alive in positions of authority that the search expands to more and more people to "bring them to justice".  Too many people in our world today seem to use their victimhood as a means of heightening status in some way, which is manipulation and can be unjust in its own right.  We need to be careful that we do what is just and not swing the pendulum too far by aggrandizing the victims too much.

So I agree with Scout that going after 90-year old, purported Nazi guards is questionable, and I think it is absurd to think that questioning the hunting of them means one is "pro-Nazi".  At least for some of us, we hold to the belief in diving Justice, meaning that failing to capture an old guy before he dies does not mean he is escaping justice.