There are abortion mills slaughtering far more people than the Nazis did, and what do we do? Nothing. We could be protesting and picketing in a non-stop wave, defying the courts, methodically voting out any and all public officials who don’t make abortion their #1 issue, or whatever, but we don’t, do we? I’m not justifying the guard or saying he should be let go, but we are all just as guilty as he is and shouldn’t be so comfortable throwing stones. There is no need to wonder what we would do in the same situation, because we ARE in the same situation, and are doing exactly what he did.
Just because one group is not prosecuted does not mean another persons crimes are absolved.
If the guy is guilty he got off with a light sentence.
It just occurred to me he was promoted while a camp guard. He must have in some way been with the program, so to speak to be promoted. The Germans did not promote based on time in grade, NCO rank had to be earned and only around 5 to 6 % of soldiers were NCOs.
The more I read about this chap the worse it seems he was, though to be fair, I do not know how you can reliably determine guilt after 72 years, at least according to English standards of right and wrong.
Failing to do the right thing in Situation A is not only an excuse for not doing the right thing in Situation B, it should also not paralyze us from doing the right thing in Situation B.
Do one thing right (or close to right), and then you can work on other things - in fact, it gives you reinforcment for going to the next step. Doing nothing because your’re not perfect is a recipe for just doing nothing.