Posted on 03/13/2017 5:25:23 PM PDT by Huntress
A prosecutor in Poland is seeking the arrest of a Minneapolis man on allegations that he commanded a Nazi unit implicated in the deaths of 44 Poles.
As reported by the Associated Press, prosecutor Robert Janicki said that "all the pieces of evidence interwoven together" in the yearslong investigation have confirmed "100 percent" that 98-year-old Michael Karkoc was a World War II commander of a unit in the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion, which is accused of burning villages and killing civilians in Poland.
Prosecutors of the state National Remembrance Institute have asked a local court in Lublin, Poland, to issue an arrest warrant for Karkoc. If granted, Poland would have the charges necessary to seek his extradition, Janicki told the AP. Trials in absentia are not allowed in Poland.
The latest development reopens what Karkoc and his family thought was an issue settled in July 2015, when the German government determined that he wasn't physically well enough to stand trial because of Alzheimer's disease.
Family members have steadfastly denied that Karkoc, who could face life in prison if convicted, was involved in any war crimes and continue to do so in the wake of this latest development. He maintains that his father fought against Nazis as a member of the Defense Legion underground movement.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Well, I brought up Madam Ceausescu the other day. She and her communist/dictator husband didn’t fare too well when democracy triumphed after the Berlin Wall fell.
You sound very angry and very John Kerry like.
Don’t disparage our military veterans and compare them to Nazi war criminals.
Oh, heck with it, just lockout all the channels on his tv except for pMSNBC and be done with it.
“So then if this 98 year old guy is being charged ... should Vietnam vets be? Shut up”
Yes - IF THEY COMMITTED A CRIME. Do you know of any who did or are you just assuming all Vietnam veterans were crazed killers? I assume most U.S. military personnel in Vietnam did their duty and came home without committing crimes. Some who committed crimes were tried and punished. Some probably got away with it as always happens in war. But how can you make the comparison you make?
“Tell them to F off until Poland stops protecting child predators (Roman Polanski)”
Surly you jest ? Polanski has been living in France, since he fled justice in the U.S.
No one has pointed out the obvious problem with prosecuting him: The lack of witnesses to testify and given the events occurred 73 years ago, the inability to determine objective fact beyond a reasonable doubt. 73 year old memories are too unreliable to trust in such a case.
The “written” evidence against him is testimony given between 68 and 49 years ago. It is very unlikely any of those folks are left alive. You cannot use evidence like that without testimony, it has to be subject to cross examination.
For example, some said in statement in 1968 he commanded a company that attacked a village and killed folks in 1944. That testimony was 49 years ago. How do you verify it? Where are the direct witnesses to an event that occurred 73 years ago? How do you differentiate between legitimate losses in a fire-fight between irregulars and folks killed in a cold blood? How do you evaluate that it might have been self-serving testimony, given to take the burden off of the person giving evidence? You cant verify very much this late.
How does he defend himself if he is ga-ga? It is not justice if there is a significant possibility of error, which exists when relying on testimony a person might have made 50 years ago about an event that occurred 24 years before that, to get himself off of a charge.
I am afraid that it seems that this is one where man must hold judgment and leave it to G-D. He will not escape that judgment.
Not defending NAZIs, defending objective justice.
So true.All whom are saying he should not be prosecuted for being senile and old as hell dont think about those people old and young who were slaughtered by this guy.I guess its easier for them because it was so long ago.Bullshit,They need to hang the bastard.
“...bulge that executed Americans...”
“...bulge that murdered Americans...”
“Executed” implies a legal process. That happened at Malmedy was plain old fashioned lawless murder.
I must have missed that 60 minutes...
“I can’t find where Pol Pot was prosecuted.”
He was in custody when he died, at least they were on the right path.
“That” should have been “What”. I really shouldn’t try to avoid staring at the keyboard.
In 1989, Vietnam withdrew from Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge established a new stronghold in the west near the Thai border and Pol Pot relocated back into Cambodia from Thailand. Pol Pot refused to cooperate with the peace process, and he continued to fight against the new coalition government. The Khmer Rouge kept the government forces at bay until 1996, when troops started deserting. Several important Khmer Rouge leaders also defected. The government followed a policy of making peace with Khmer Rouge individuals and groups after negotiations with the organization as a whole failed. In 1995, Pol Pot experienced a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body.
Pol Pot ordered the execution of his lifelong right-hand man Son Sen on 10 June 1997 for attempting to make a settlement with the government. Eleven members of his family were also killed, although Pol Pot later denied that he had ordered this. He then fled his northern stronghold, but was later arrested by Khmer Rouge military Chief Ta Mok on 19 June 1997. Pol Pot had not been seen in public since 1980, two years after his overthrow at the hands of an invading Vietnamese army. He was sentenced to death in absentia by a Phnom Penh court soon afterwards.[58] In July, he was subjected to a show trial for the death of Son Sen and sentenced to lifelong house arrest.[59]
Death[edit]
Grave of Pol Pot in the Anlong Veng District of Oddar Meanchey Province.
On the night of 15 April 1998, two days before the 23rd anniversary of the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh, the Voice of America, of which Pol Pot was a devoted listener, announced that the Khmer Rouge had agreed to turn him over to an international tribunal. According to his wife, he died in his bed later that night while waiting to be moved to another location. Ta Mok claimed that his death was due to heart failure.[60] Ta Mok later described the way he died: “He was sitting in his chair waiting for the car to come. But he felt tired. His wife asked him to take a rest. He laid down on his bed. His wife heard a gasp of air. It was the sound of dying. When she touched him he had already died. It was at 10:15 last night.”[61]
Despite government requests to inspect the body, it was cremated at Anlong Veng in the Khmer Rouge zone a few days later,[62] raising suspicions that he had committed suicide by taking an overdose of the medication which he had been prescribed.[63][64] Journalist Nate Thayer, who was present, held the view that Pol Pot killed himself when he became aware of Ta Mok’s plan to hand him over to America. He concluded that “Pol Pot died of a lethal dose of a combination of Valium and chloroquine.”[65] Ta Mok’s assertion that “no one poisoned him” encouraged speculation that this was exactly what had happened. Thus some sources state that he was murdered by his own colleagues.[66]
Wiki
The only loose Nazi I care about prosecuting is George Soros.
Roman Polanski Extradition Request Rejected by Poland
Roman Polanski Extradition Request Rejected by Poland's Supreme Court
There was a history written in Germany a decade or so ago and it was pretty clear that he might not have been present, nor given the direct orders fro the slaughter at the cross roads, but he did inculcate a certain brutal attitude which lead to such acts. There was at least one of his soldiers who testified he gave a direct order to kill a prisoner at another time.
He was released from prison in 1956/57 not because he was innocent, but because the court case had been screwed up when torture was used by American MPs to extract confessions from the enlisted soldiers at the slaughter, included crushing genitals. As such the evidence against him and the other leaders was flawed, and it was felt that late, 12 years (1956) later it would be impossible to get a fair trial, so they were let go, Pieper last of all.
While he might have possibly been innocent of the exact charges, he was not a very savory character. In particaur he was Himmler’s aide in May of 1940 and had to know about the einsatz commandos, the 3 or 4 groups that followed the German Army into Russia and killed civilians.
There is more but I think the above is sufficient to make the point. The US attempted justice, even when dealing with NAZIs.
Here is the problem with your statement: Lets apply it to the My-Lai massacre in March 1968. Only one officer, Lt Calley(?) the st platoon commander was prosecuted for it, but between 347 and 504 civilians were brutally murders at that incident by a company sized element. There were 2 other platoon commanders, a company commander present, and the company commander gave the order to enter the village.
Now if we apply your idea we would allow the Vietnamese to, on the basis of documents from 49 years ago, prosecute all company officers present at that event. In fact it should be a given and we should all be pushing for it.
But he testimony collected in 1968 by the CID was the event was spontaneous and Lt Calley did not give the order, at least one version goes that way. of course the testimony might have been self serving, as there is also first had testimony that indicates the company commander gave the order. You can read the details here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre
So is the company commander guilty or not? The reality is that event from 49 years ago is sufficiently long ago, that I very much doubt that folks memories would suffice to make a good case, and I would not trust the Vietnamese not to use the trail as a opportunity to beat up America for a 50 year old war crime rather than seek justice. There is no way in heck I would support that, even though it likely means one or more soldiers who went over the top will escape earthly punishment.
They will not escape divine justice, whatever form that may take, though it may also result in forgiveness, who knows. G-G hates the killing of innocents, and that most certainly happened that day. But it is beyond our ability to judge.
Now unless you wish to see the same standard used with our guys, one cannot advocate this 98 year old guy being punished by the Poles now, though he likely is guilty.
ONe can always count on the leftist MSAM to cover up the truth about Communism, and now - Islam.
The historical record is important. If there is evidence to convict him, he should be declared guilty and sentenced to the number of years he deserves, regardless of his current age. Whether he actually serves is not the important thing. Let there be justice in the here and now, alas so many decades later.
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