Sunday, December 06, 2009
Mass Killings
In the news is John Demjanjuk. John Demjanjuk, 89 year old, is consider one of the world's most wanted Nazi war criminals. No, he isn’t German he is a native Ukrainian. John (né Ivan) Demjanjuk has said he was conscripted into the Red Army in 1940 and captured by the Nazis in 1942. Prosecutors say in order to save his life he volunteered for the German SS and was trained as a camp guard. They are charging him with complicity in the murder of thousands of people at Sobibor, a Nazi concentration camp in German-occupied Poland, during the Holocaust. He is being charged with 29,000 counts of accessory to murder.
After World War II he emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Cleveland. He worked in the auto industry until 1977, when evidence that he may have served as a Nazi guard sparked an investigation into his past. In 1981 an Ohio court ruled that Demjanjuk was indeed an escaped Nazi war criminal and stripped him of his citizenship. In 1986 Demjanjuk was extradited to Israel. Two years later he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. The case was reopened in 1993 after Israeli courts unveiled testimony from 37 former guards and laborers at Treblinka that suggested Demjanjuk was not their man. His conviction and death sentence were vacated. Following his release, Demjanjuk returned to the U.S., where his citizenship was restored in 1998. In March 2009, Demjanjuk was extradited to Germany, where he is standing trial for the death of 29,000 people because he was a guard at the Sobibor prison camp.
Now those who know me are aware I am a hateful person who holds a grudge for a long time. I think if Demjanjuk had anything to do with killing an innocent person then he should die. Not to take away any possible guilt Demjanjuk may have, I do however question why him? First he is not even German and you would think there are plenty of Germans to take to court. Second, there were millions killed in World War II and the guilt can be share among all the participants, but let’s go with argument since “our side” won we will only prosecute the losers, the main ones being Germany, Japan and Italy. All did mass killing yet after the initial round of war trials were held only those crimes related to the killing of Jews continue. Why is that?
Now this is not an apple to apple comparison but when I hear of these war crimes or any crimes involving killing I have to think back to October 2nd, 2006. On that day Charles Carl Roberts IV entered a one-room Amish schoolhouse in West Nickel Mines, shot 10 Amish girls ages 6-13, and then committed suicide. Instead of hate and outrage, the Amish community didn't cast blame, they didn't point fingers, they didn't hold a press conference with attorneys at their sides. Instead, they reached out with grace and compassion toward the killer's family. Amish neighbors visited the Roberts family to comfort them in their sorrow and pain. At Charles Roberts' funeral Amish mourners outnumbered the non-Amish. I couldn’t do such a thing and I don’t know many people who could. I am merely pointing out on a Sunday the difference in the two aftermath of killing.
After World War II he emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Cleveland. He worked in the auto industry until 1977, when evidence that he may have served as a Nazi guard sparked an investigation into his past. In 1981 an Ohio court ruled that Demjanjuk was indeed an escaped Nazi war criminal and stripped him of his citizenship. In 1986 Demjanjuk was extradited to Israel. Two years later he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. The case was reopened in 1993 after Israeli courts unveiled testimony from 37 former guards and laborers at Treblinka that suggested Demjanjuk was not their man. His conviction and death sentence were vacated. Following his release, Demjanjuk returned to the U.S., where his citizenship was restored in 1998. In March 2009, Demjanjuk was extradited to Germany, where he is standing trial for the death of 29,000 people because he was a guard at the Sobibor prison camp.
Now those who know me are aware I am a hateful person who holds a grudge for a long time. I think if Demjanjuk had anything to do with killing an innocent person then he should die. Not to take away any possible guilt Demjanjuk may have, I do however question why him? First he is not even German and you would think there are plenty of Germans to take to court. Second, there were millions killed in World War II and the guilt can be share among all the participants, but let’s go with argument since “our side” won we will only prosecute the losers, the main ones being Germany, Japan and Italy. All did mass killing yet after the initial round of war trials were held only those crimes related to the killing of Jews continue. Why is that?
Now this is not an apple to apple comparison but when I hear of these war crimes or any crimes involving killing I have to think back to October 2nd, 2006. On that day Charles Carl Roberts IV entered a one-room Amish schoolhouse in West Nickel Mines, shot 10 Amish girls ages 6-13, and then committed suicide. Instead of hate and outrage, the Amish community didn't cast blame, they didn't point fingers, they didn't hold a press conference with attorneys at their sides. Instead, they reached out with grace and compassion toward the killer's family. Amish neighbors visited the Roberts family to comfort them in their sorrow and pain. At Charles Roberts' funeral Amish mourners outnumbered the non-Amish. I couldn’t do such a thing and I don’t know many people who could. I am merely pointing out on a Sunday the difference in the two aftermath of killing.
# posted by Howard @ 8:58 AM 
