93-Year-Old Auschwitz Guard Charged With 300,000 Counts of Accessory to Murder - Polidicks

[QUOTE]A 93-year-old man who had served as a guard at the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp has been charged with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder, prosecutors said Monday. Prosecutors accused Oskar Groening of working at the death camp between May and June 1944, where about 425,000 Jews from Hungary were held and about 300,000 were gassed to death. Groening is charged with helping collect and tally money found in the belongings stolen from camp victims. "He helped the Nazi regime benefit economically, and supported the systematic killings," state prosecutors said in a statement.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/09/93-year-old-auschwitz-guard-charged-with-300000-counts-of-accessory-to-murder/380216/"] Source[/URL]

The psychological pain wasn't enough, good thing we have him behind bars so he won't murder any more!

Cue "my grandad died in concentration camp" jokes.

On one hand, he's certainly a criminal but on the other hand he's 93. He isn't a danger to anyone and he will die soon. I feel it's a waste of resources to charge him.

retroactive backpedaling/punishment is cool

You people know that it's possible to sentence someone and then suspend it because there's no need to actually put that person behind bars?

Did he really have a choice in the matter?

[QUOTE=Svinnik;45986753]On one hand, he's certainly a criminal but on the other hand he's 93. He isn't a danger to anyone and he will die soon. I feel it's a waste of resources to charge him.[/QUOTE] I don't know if I'd even really call him a criminal for something he was ordered to do seventy years ago. He didn't even actually kill anyone.

That's literally the dumbest thing I've heard all day It's time to clean up these streets, let's charge a 93 year old who was but a brainwashed pawn in a murderous regime decades ago, that'll stop him from hurting anyone I mean not only is this completely pointless but it really doesn't help the guy who probably regrets every moment of it

you cant throw a 93 year old in jail it would just be a waste of money, regardless of how big of a shitbag he is/was

Groening? Ha, and you guys said I was crazy when I said The Simpsons was nazi propaganda.

If he was just a low ranking guard I don't think he should be charged with anything, it's possible he was just following orders from fear and authority, like how that [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment]one psychology experiment[/url] showed.

[quote]"He helped the Nazi regime benefit economically, and supported the systematic killings," state prosecutors said in a statement. [/quote] By this logic there's a couple million people you still missed, mate. Don't get me wrong, I fucking despise the nazis in general and the concentration camps in particular but this is retarded.

[QUOTE=Kaios;45986817]If he was just a low ranking guard I don't think he should be charged with anything, it's possible he was just following orders from fear and authority, like how that [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment]one psychology experiment[/url] showed.[/QUOTE] Wasn't it basically obey or get shot?

I think they'll probably just go with a suspended sentence. Even the Germans with their wrath for cleaning up WWII Nazis must realise how daft it would be to send a 93 year old to prison. Name, shame, move onto the next. Chances are the defendant's history is known by family and friends and I'm sure they've all accepted it.

[QUOTE=Svinnik;45986753]On one hand, he's certainly a criminal but on the other hand he's 93. He isn't a danger to anyone and he will die soon. I feel it's a waste of resources to charge him.[/QUOTE] if i kill one person and don't kill anymore it's fine because i'm not a danger to anyone i don't think people should be hunting these guys down anymore but your point is really bad

I don't see what's wrong with charging him. If he's guilty, he's guilty, and the evidence will tell us so. Whether or not he should be punished/imprisoned/whatever is a different matter. He probably isn't a threat to anyone.

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[QUOTE=Kondor;45986849]if i kill one person and don't kill anymore it's fine because i'm not a danger to anyone[/QUOTE] its different when you are 93 fuckin years old [editline]15th September 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Cabbage;45986797]That's literally the dumbest thing I've heard all day It's time to clean up these streets, let's charge a 93 year old who was but a brainwashed pawn in a murderous regime decades ago, that'll stop him from hurting anyone I mean not only is this completely pointless but it really doesn't help the guy who probably regrets every moment of it[/QUOTE] to be honest, he could have been "brainwashed" but he also could have not. there were genuinely awful people involved in the holocaust, and there were people who were forced to participate. there is no indication to which party hes in

[QUOTE=Kondor;45986849]if i kill one person and don't kill anymore it's fine because i'm not a danger to anyone[/QUOTE] All you need to do to an officer who gave orders that have lead to a number of civilian casualties is to strip him of his rank and he won't be able to do it again, right? Also, only like 3 or 4 nazis were actually bad people, everyone else was killing innocent people by the thousands and stealing all their belongings because they were afraid of getting killed themselves and they all regret everything they've done.

[QUOTE=Kondor;45986849]if i kill one person and don't kill anymore it's fine because i'm not a danger to anyone i don't think people should be hunting these guys down anymore but your point is really bad[/QUOTE] Yeah except it's not that black and white. Firstly, his charge is 'accessory to murder', not murder, meaning he never killed someone himself. Secondly, at this time the people were so brainwashed by the Nazi regime in Germany, some people involved didn't even know what they were doing. This guy was brainwashed and following orders and even so probably regretted it after he inevitably realized the evil of it. To say every single person involved in the nazi regime as evil and morally twisted as the person who instigated is to be very misinformed.

[QUOTE=Silly Sil;45986773]You people know that it's possible to sentence someone and then suspend it because there's no need to actually put that person behind bars?[/QUOTE] Okay, but surely it would be better to spend the tens of thousands of euros that a case like this will cost on a proper campaign against modern anti-semitism instead of fruitlessly trying to right a 70 year old wrong?

[QUOTE=Cabbage;45986892]Yeah except it's not that black and white. Firstly, his charge is 'accessory to murder', not murder, meaning he never killed someone himself. Secondly, at this time the people were so brainwashed by the Nazi regime in Germany, some people involved didn't even know what they were doing. This guy was brainwashed and following orders and even so probably regretted it after he inevitably realized the evil of it. To say every single person involved in the nazi regime as evil and morally twisted as the person who instigated is to be very misinformed.[/QUOTE] i don't think anyone is saying that every single nazi was an awful person who needs to be jail but like i said, there is no information that makes it sound like he is a good or bad person

[QUOTE=Silly Sil;45986879]All you need to do to an officer who gave orders that have lead to a number of civilian casualties is to strip him of his rank and he won't be able to do it again, right? Also, only like 3 or 4 nazis were actually bad people, everyone else was killing innocent people by the thousands and stealing all their belongings because they were afraid of getting killed themselves and they all regret everything they've done.[/QUOTE] great you literally just said what i was saying

[QUOTE=Cabbage;45986892]Yeah except it's not that black and white. Firstly, his charge is 'accessory to murder', not murder, meaning he never killed someone himself. Secondly, at this time the people were so brainwashed by the Nazi regime in Germany, some people involved didn't even know what they were doing. This guy was brainwashed and following orders and even so probably regretted it after he inevitably realized the evil of it. To say every single person involved in the nazi regime as evil and morally twisted as the person who instigated is to be very misinformed.[/QUOTE] Hitler was just brainwashed and didn't see the evil in his actions. Same with Milosevic and Stalin and Pol Pot and all the rest.

[QUOTE=Bathtub;45986858]its different when you are 93 fuckin years old [editline]15th September 2014[/editline] to be honest, he could have been "brainwashed" but he also could have not. there were genuinely awful people involved in the holocaust, and there were people who were forced to participate. there is no indication to which party hes in[/QUOTE] Of course, but the assumption that he is inherently evil for his actions is a very clumsy way to do justice. Especially at 93 years old, his actions are buried in the past and, again, he most likely regrets them.

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[QUOTE=Explosions;45986907]Hitler was just brainwashed and didn't see the evil in his actions.[/QUOTE] Reading 101. "To say every single person involved in the nazi regime as evil and morally twisted as the person who instigated is to be very misinformed" The person who instigated it was Hitler. Thus I was saying he is evil and morally twisted. again, not to say this absolves everyone under his command, but the footsoldiers and guards have a lower chance of sharing his twisted views and instead are more likely scared of the punishment that comes with assisting jews or not following the totalitarian regime.

[QUOTE=Cabbage;45986892]Yeah except it's not that black and white. Firstly, his charge is 'accessory to murder', not murder, meaning he never killed someone himself. Secondly, at this time the people were so brainwashed by the Nazi regime in Germany, some people involved didn't even know what they were doing. This guy was brainwashed and following orders and even so probably regretted it after he inevitably realized the evil of it. To say every single person involved in the nazi regime as evil and morally twisted as the person who instigated is to be very misinformed.[/QUOTE] And to say that every single nazi solder was a good person who got brainwashed beyond the ability of noticing how wrong it is to drive innocent people from their homes and gas them by the thousands while stealing all their stuff is completely not misinformed at all.

[QUOTE=Cabbage;45986916]Reading 101. "To say every single person involved in the nazi regime as evil and morally twisted as the person who instigated is to be very misinformed" The person who instigated it was Hitler. Thus I was saying he is evil and morally twisted[/QUOTE] But he wasn't twisted, he just didn't see the error of his ways.