Sorry, but I disagree with most of the posts here.
This story originally broke years ago, as the man in question (Demanjuk (sp?)) lived in the town right next to me ....literally. He is not accused of 'just being a guard'....he is accused of crimes against humanity, including torture and MURDER!!! Lasts time I heard, there was no statute of limitations on murder.
...and, if it was YOUR family members who were murdered, wouldn't you want justice for their killer(s)? Would you let them get away with it, just because they were 'old', or 'just in the wrong place at the wrong time'? I don't buy into the idea that they "had to do it, or else they would face the same treatment"....there were plenty of guards in camps that
weren't sadists and murders. Just because this individual managed to hide it so well for all these years doesn't mean he should get a free pass.
Small cog in the machine? Maybe so, but that 'small cog' kept all the big cogs moving....
It's unfortunate that the U.S. must share the blame in some of this.....look into Japan's unit 731 in Manchuria and see the atrocities that they committed in the name of 'scientific research' (if you can stomach it....I work in an O.R. and after seeing/reading some of the things these animals did, I thought I was going to barf.....I had to quit reading half way through). Not only did they commit their atrocities on (primarily) Chinese
citizens, but
American POWs as well....and our country gave them a 'free pass' in order to get a look at the 'data' because of the cold war. Many of these sadists (er....excuse me,
researchers) went on to become prominent politicians, presidents of Universities, heads of industry, ect.....and NONE of them EVER admitted to their crimes. And Japan, as a nation, has never acknowledged the fact that Unit 731 ever existed.
Should we just give them a free pass? After all, they are all old as well.....
Oh, and by the way: Unit 731 also experimented with "balloon bombs" to try and spread biological and chemical weapons over the United States. Little know fact: about 200 of these bombs reached the U.S., and one killed 7 people, including a woman who was 8 months pregnant.
....but let's just give them a free pass; after all, the war was over 60 years ago, and these were just
civilians that they made war on....
I've seen other posts on here with re: to crime, criminals 'getting away with murder' because of legal issues filed by the ACLU, ect. You guys get pretty pissed off when you feel that justice is stymied. Yet here you are, doing the same thing because the guy is "old" and "the war was a long time ago".
The smell of hypocrisy is rather rank today....................
