US Sues to Strip Accused Nazi Guard of Citizenship

Yahoo News ^ | October 10 2002 | Reuters

[knighthawk]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department said on Thursday it sued to revoke the U.S. citizenship of an accused Nazi concentration camp guard who allegedly took an oath of personal loyalty to Adolf Hitler during World War II.

It said it filed the lawsuit in federal court in Cleveland against Jakob Miling, 78, a native of the former Yugoslavia who now lives in Lyndhurst, Ohio.

The lawsuit alleged Miling served as a guard at the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland and at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany.

At the German camp, Miling and other guards manned machine guns at the guard towers and had standing orders to shoot any prisoners who entered a six-foot-wide "path of death" next to the barbed wire fence, according to the lawsuit.

Miling, who began serving with the Nazis in 1942, was promoted to the rank equivalent to corporal before the war ended, according to the lawsuit. In the final months of the war, it said he served in an infantry division that fought Allied forces.

Miling came to the United States in 1964 and became a U.S. citizen eight years later. The lawsuit alleged he lied on his application for citizenship, concealing his Nazi wartime service.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[OldFriend]

So then you think the elderly man who was just now convicted of bombing the church in Alabama where three little black girls were killed ought to be forgiven and allowed to go on with his life too?

[Texas_Jarhead]

yea - it's not like we had prison camps dotting the country where thousands upon thousands of German POWs resided in relative comfort. you are a 1st class ass!

[ikka]

However, Jakob Miling has since changed his name to Jesus Apodaca Martinez. The INS and DOJ immediately dropped the case and licked his feet in apology.

[Mordoch]

How many of them were murdered once in the hands of the Soviets?

A LOT.

[OldFriend]

No doubt your moral relativism would be much more appreciated at DU.........

[TopQuark]

Look, no one says this person should be killed. But, perhaps, if you fight and kill Americans through may you don't go to America in July. You do not partake of freedom and prosperity of those you fought to kill.

That is the difference. You can forgive, maybe, a man that raped your wife. But to give him your house after that?

Let him go to Yogoslavia and live out his life.

[Texas_Jarhead]

"Are you saying that no German soldiers upon surrendering were murdered en mass by American troops?"

If I was saying that then that sentiment would have been included in my post. You think Americans who fought against the Germans in WWII were such monsters, fine, that's your opinion. You won't convince me of it. Not even with reams of Nazi German material.

[southcarolina]

Just because you avoid detection for 57 years doesn't mean you should be immune from punishment. I wouldn't think that former Nazi concentration camp guards are the type of people who should be allowed to enjoy the American way of life. Sure, it would have been preferable to have stopped this guy 38 years ago when he arrived here, but better late than never.

[Texas_Jarhead]

Your replies to me have confused me on what your position is but by reading your responses to others I believe I understand where you stand. I'll just say this. I think it's somewhat ridiculous to strip this guy of citizenship after all the years because he was a low level camp gaurd (similar to your plumber example). On the other hand, he did enter the country under false pretenses. It's a tough call and I wouldn't want to be the one to have to make the decision.

[crazykatz]

He is a Croatian.