91-year-old woman has been charged with 260,000 counts of accessory to murder at Auschwitz
Article about: A 91-year-old woman has been charged with 260,000 counts of accessory to murder over allegations she was part of the Nazi SS serving in the Auschwitz death camp. German prosecutors said that
I remember Oma telling me about the SS. She witnessed and heard some of the horrific atrocities. The worst was hearing trains with hopeless people screaming with their arms outside rail cars as they whizzed past, whistles blowing she could still hear, rumbling locomotive engines shaking the earth on the way to the death camps and the smell of smoldering flesh filling the air. American Soldier's making her walk through dead bodies as a citizen after the war ended and not being allowed to cry or cover her mouth. She spoke of the SS as I remember as "Teufel Handlanger" (Devil's Henchmen) and she hated them. I remember one time she sang me in German the song they sang in their marches called...SS marschiert in Feindesland (The Devils Song). She still could remember the ominous feeling when she heard them march with "schweren Füßen" (heavy feet). I must say I was 16 and it sent chills up my spine hearing her talk of them and hearing her only sing a couple verses of the song. She lamented to me the day that she met Hitler and shook his hand at a rally earlier in his rise to power as a young girl. A simple civilian factory worker in my Oma had regrets as a German Citizen late in her life and she did nothing. I am very certain this SS woman will die with a troubled heart and an empty soul of regret. Her ultimate fate will be decided by the almighty. The SS were Hitler's Bastards plain and simple.
"It's not whether you get knocked down...It's whether you get up"
It shows that the horrors inflicted by a criminal government will not be forgiven or forgotten. This woman has lived 70 years of free life which is something that was not given their victims. I feel no compassion or pity for those who helped the trains run on time.
Just a thought that crossed my mind. Have the authorities tracked down the train drivers that transported these poor souls to their deaths ? Are they not just as implicit in the atrocities as anyone else ? Or are these prosecutions limited to SS members only ? Its suggested the woman was a minor at the time and a radio operator, I don't see much difference other than she was an SS member ?
Its early morning and I have just got up for work, I may easily be typing complete nonsense !
Views on this subject are starting to depend on what generation you were born into ....
I was first generation after WW2 .... and the suffering to many was still crystal clear .... Abeit .. not just read in books or watched on film.
I was speaking to a lovely family at the weekend (me with the son) and the Grandmother was a holocaust survivor. I can assure you all that they do not want to either forget their ancestors horrific murders or brush under the carpet past perpetrators actions. Justice still needs to be done, no matter how old the crime as there are still many survivors alive today. Leon.
Thankfully, Bob has already warned all who read this regarding their posts. Again, to reiterate, comments will be strictly moderated - as with ANYTHING posted on the forum.
The attachment below - which translates as "Late, but not too late" is important to remember above all other concerns.
Stratos, regarding your misguided comment, I would suggest that you study a little regarding the countless victims of the KZ system...not ALL were of Jewish descent...indeed, FAR from it.
A brief note related to the OP's amendment regarding the young age of the accused:
There existed numerous individuals who served within the KZ system that were of a young age. For example, regarding the ranks of the Aufseherinnen alone (female wardens serving the SS), the average age was 26. The infamous Irma Grese oversaw tens of thousands of prisoners at Auschwitz-II, Birkenau when she was just 19 years old. But the youngest, Gertrud Sieber, was a mere 15 years of age when she was employed at Groß-Rosen in spring 1944. Age restrictions (21-45 years prior to 1943) were lifted later, in 1944.
NOTE: This thread has now been moved to the appropriate Konzentrationslagers forum.
I was speaking to a lovely family at the weekend (me with the son) and the Grandmother was a holocaust survivor. I can assure you all that they do not want to either forget their ancestors horrific murders or brush under the carpet past perpetrators actions. Justice still needs to be done, no matter how old the crime as there are still many survivors alive today. Leon.
Leon
Off subject but who is the good looking Brunette behind you at the table ?
Personally I think this is becoming a joke, they will be locking up any of the canteen staff if they are alive next...... And what good will putting a 91 year old women in jail do for the rest of her short life ?
I understand the pity for a 91 year old woman, it's competently normal human empathy at work - What we must remember; the individual experiences of this old Nazi and her dying ilk are completely irrelevant compared to the importance of commemoration and historical memory regarding the Holocaust. I would say go one further, they should even be convicted in their graves. The World's reaction to the crime is a great prevention strategy (at least in the West we will never see this happen again). The Holocaust shows what evil can actuate when we stop seeing people as people; when we fail to see a person as a unique individual. Blaming involvement (no matter how small) on the 'just a cog in the state wheel' defence has never and should never be an acceptable defence for acting out of morality in any situation.
I thought this was a fascinating photo which I am sure many of you have seen. These Heer soldiers are being forced to watch footage of a concentration camp, and are visibly upset. Can you imagine viewing all this after fighting and watching your mates die, when the regime you fight for were doing this! Of course these are generalisations, atrocities were carried out by all armed forces during WWII, and many German troops and civilians did know what was going on; but the SS are known as particularly involved in the worst. If we should have empathy for anyone involved on the German side here, perhaps we should consider the regular troops who only discovered what evil they were fighting for only after the fact.
The truest Horror of the holocaust was the mechanization of the whole thing , with vast resources of men and material devoted to the cause . The very idea that mass murder was refined to such a level is mark against all humanity , and it shows the evil that lay in the hearts of all men . The worst thing about the holocaust was the fact it happened at all , all mankind caries the blood on their hands , and will for all time .
by BOB COLEMAN
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