Germany: Man who worked at Auschwitz arrested

[Turborama]

Source: AP Via The Guardian

German authorities say they have arrested a 93-year-old alleged former Auschwitz guard who once lived in the United States on suspicion of accessory to murder.

Hans Lipschis was taken into custody Monday after prosecutors concluded there was "compelling evidence" he was involved in crimes at Auschwitz while there from 1941 to 1945.

Lipschis acknowledges he served with the Nazi SS in the notorious death camp but claims he was only a cook. About 1.5 million people, primarily Jews, were killed at the camp complex.

Lipschis was deported from the U.S. in 1983 for lying about his Nazi past when he immigrated to Chicago in the 1950s after the war.

Stuttgart prosecutors say a doctor confirmed his health remains good enough for him to be kept in detention.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10779947

[Fearless]

1. This is one of the places that punishment vs rehabilitation RE: justice hits their rawest edges.

What is the purpose of incarceration? Is it to punish for a crime or to rehabilitate a person? If a person shows repentance should the end result be the same or different? Likewise, if they don't show repentance should the end result be the same or different? For how long can a person be held responsible for the actions of their past? Should there be an expiry date or not? Should it matter if someone is ill or not as to whether you incarcerate them? Should age play a factor? If they repent? If they don't? What does incarceration do? Who does it help? Who does it hurt? What is it's goal?

All interesting questions to ponder. I am not making judgement calls in this case and I know there are people who are going to jump on this and claim I'm defending a Nazi. I am saying that I'm not defending anyone's actions. It is just interesting to me how the actions taken in the name of justice are impacted on in their extreme situations. The actions of the "Final Solution" are definitely one of these extreme cases. It's interesting to see the responses to these actions from a psychological and sociological standpoint.

[Aristus]

2. I don't care if he feels remorse or not.

Throw him in a dungeon for whatever remains of his life. The time to show remorse is before one has aided in the commission of an atrocity. In such a case, it will be revulsion and disgust at the possibility of behaving in such a manner, and refusing to behave that way. Much less expensive than remorse.

I've done things in my life for which I feel remorse, but none of them involve weighing a choice beforehand as to whether to assist in the mass murder of thousands of people.

I can appreciate your questioning whether imprisoning a man in his 90's will serve appropriate justice in this case. But there is no statute of limitations on murder, and certainly not one on mass murder or genocide.

If he was worried that he would someday be called to account for his crimes, he could simply have chosen not to commit them...

[BobbyBoring]

3. I have to agree

I think most of the Nazis were brain washed in the same fashion todays RWers are. What else could explain their actions and total lack of regard for anything. Nearly 60 years after the war, I would imagine this guy had reverted back to what he once was and has had plenty of time to reflect on what the did.

[leftynyc]

4. I am disgusted by the right wing

as much as anyone but until they start turning over people who get put in ovens or worked to death, the comparison really doesn't hold up. This asshole has been free for far too long and deserves to never smell free air again.

[840high]

6. +1,000

[Sunlei]

5. Lipschis was deported from the U.S. in 1983 for lying about his Nazi past when he immigrated to Chic

wonder how many others lied on their papers?

"The Kochs, A Nazi Past, Oil & The Foundation of The Right"


http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-500857

[jimmil]

7. If he indeed did the crimes he is accused of...

He should be put away forever. The people in the death camps are dead, forever.