Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Former SS guard: 'I couldn't imagine' Jews leaving Auschwitz alive [Deut 28, Matt 24]
The Associated Press ^ | 4/23/2015 | Staff

Posted on 04/23/2015 7:42:28 AM PDT by Jan_Sobieski

A former Auschwitz guard being tried on 300,000 counts of accessory to murder has testified that it was clear to him Jews were not expected to leave the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland alive.

"I couldn't imagine that" happening, former SS Sgt. Oskar Groening told the Lueneburg state court on Thursday during the third day of his trial, the DPA news agency reported.

The 93-year-old's answer came in response to a question from attorneys representing Auschwitz survivors who have joined the trial as co-plaintiffs, as allowed under German law...

(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: europe; holocaust; jews; nazi
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 last
To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines

—— it comes to murder. So what proof is there that he killed anyone?——

I don’t care...he was part of the world’s most evil movement...

If he was sent to a concentration camp as a guard...there was a reason he was picked for that duty...

The Nazi’s SS just didn’t send any joe smo’s


41 posted on 04/23/2015 11:21:57 AM PDT by Popman (Christ Alone: My Cornerstone...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Shamrock498

“they were the paratroopers right? I didn’t know that. all of them or just certain units?”

The SS raised a couple of airborne units for anti-partisan operations against Tito, maybe them. I can’t imagine going after regular airborne guys from my limited knowledge.


42 posted on 04/23/2015 11:32:24 AM PDT by PLMerite ("The issue is never the issue. The issue is the Revolution.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: HamiltonJay

i guess that’s why they are having the trial. evidence is heard. both sides make an argument. blah blah blah

his Wikipedia page is an interesting read. it lays out how he found himself in this predicament. he came out of the shadows because of the moral guilt he felt and he wanted to contest holocaust deniers with first person testimony. that may work out well for him ultimately.


43 posted on 04/23/2015 11:38:36 AM PDT by Shamrock498
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: Popman

I know you don’t care about the evidence or proof against him. And I guess that’s the difference between you and me. I think when a person is charged with murder, sufficient evidence needs to be presented.


44 posted on 04/23/2015 11:44:03 AM PDT by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: HamiltonJay

precisely.


45 posted on 04/23/2015 12:24:30 PM PDT by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Jan_Sobieski

As long as Americans think it is NORMAL to have a political party that promotes chopping babies to pieces, sucking out their brains, etc., America is, spiritually and morally, MUCH SICKER than Nazi Germany ever was. The German people were SO HEALTHY, morally and spiritually, that Hitler had to keep the camps secret. America is so SICK that the Yellow Pages in every large city list the places where babies are murdered.

Last year, 20 CATHOLIC colleges and universities honored pro-abortion people at their commencements.

With about ten exceptions, American Catholic bishops insist that pro-abortion, pro-sodomy people be given Communion.

If the American people were to become as spiritually and morally healthy as the German people were under Hitler, America would be a better place.


46 posted on 04/23/2015 1:23:24 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cry if I Wanna

Not only that, but there’s a retirement home for Nazi SS in Israel where they’re tended to by Jews until they die.

Not forgiven... you can’t forgive a criminal on the victim’s behalf; but understood.

I don’t feel good about this at all.


47 posted on 04/23/2015 3:47:05 PM PDT by Marie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Old Sarge
“Was this fellow on Wiesenthal’s list?”

This guy was such a “war criminal” he appeared on the BBC series “The Nazis and the Final Solution.” His job was to take foreign currency from Auschwitz to Berlin. I despise the Nazi's, but this trial is BS.

48 posted on 04/23/2015 4:20:43 PM PDT by HenpeckedCon (What pi$$es me off the most is that POS commie will get a State Funeral!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
And I guess that’s the difference between you and me. I think when a person is charged with murder, sufficient evidence needs to be presented.

You don't have to actually murder someone to be charged...

Ever hear of accessory to murder?

That's what he is being charged with...

300,000 counts

49 posted on 04/23/2015 4:24:49 PM PDT by Popman (Christ Alone: My Cornerstone...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
I agree. War crimes trials were originally intended for the higher ups. Policy makers, high ranking officers and Party leaders. Going after lowly 93 year old camp guards 70 years after the war ended seems to me to be a bit over the top. What did he actually do in the camp? Was he herding people into the gas chambers, or was simply guarding the fence? I don’t believe in guilt by association. If we’re going to go after aging camp guards it seems to me we could find many thousands of them in the former USSR which slaughtered millions more people than the Nazis did.

Without these low level functionaries that are "just doing their job" these higher ups could never achieve the atrocities they did.

70 years is a long time though.

50 posted on 04/23/2015 4:31:52 PM PDT by bad company
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Shamrock498
I don't believe that the paratrooper corps was officially designated as a criminal organization like the SS was, but in practice paratroopers received a warmer than average reception. Once the Luftwaffe lost the ability to conduct aerial operations the fallschirmjäger acted as elite infantry (often paired with the SS, Peiper has several units of fallschirmjäger under his command during the Bulge). I've read that, as their helmets resembled M1 helmet to some degree, they sometimes used the fact to their advantage in the confusion of battle.
51 posted on 04/26/2015 4:10:15 PM PDT by Wyrd bið ful aræd (Cruz or lose!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Wyrd bið ful aræd

Yeah I didn’t think they were either but I know as the war wound down, german units were less likely to take prisoners which led to many atrocities, and certain units were held accountable if it was determined to be a pattern. FJ’s probably often fell into that category since they higher profile/elite


52 posted on 04/27/2015 6:56:01 AM PDT by Shamrock498
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson