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War Crimes..
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Nazi War Criminal
Does this add any value to today's generation?
Is there anything to be gained by continuing this hunt?
Does this add any value to today's generation?
Is there anything to be gained by continuing this hunt?
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I cant even imagine how many German prisoners were executed in the field by the allied forces but nobody will ever hear about those 'war crimes'.
I notice that the writers always have to mention the jews somehow...Anything to do with nazis and the jews are mentioned to make it sound worse.
Persecuting/prosecuting "war criminals" is the province of the "victor". War ain't a friendly place. People actually get hurt. There are ALWAYS those who will see active participation within war as "a crime", regardless of what you do...
Am not defending the Nazi regime, and not their armed forces, however... Refusal to obey an order, whether lawful or NOT, within a time of war, can get you an instantanious bullet to the head. In the armed forces of ANY country. Yes, there is the accountability to determine whether an order is lawful, but there is also the reality of the consequences to not obeying that order.
In the miltary, especially in time of war, you follow orders, or your life (as you know it) is over... FOREVER.
Time to let the foot soldiers rest. That war has been over for a long time. We have rebuilt the countries of Japan and Germany; time to allow their warriors their peace.
US has even granted amnesty to the deserters who ran to Canada rather than fight. Treats them better than those who accepted their duty. Time to let those old men from Germany die in peace.
btw ~ This is the perspective of one who followed orders he disagreed with, but knew his place.
Its all crap really - let these people die peacefully - whatever they did in war likely punished their minds more than any pussy court could ever hope for.
just as like as any other murderer is brought into trial, especially the past Nazi officers who commanded killing of many civilians.
I'm sorry, but I disagree with you.
War ended in 1945. We no longer need to punish those who were involved. Time has passed, the man in question is 93; what good does it do? He deserves to pass the rest of his days in peace - it is not for civilians who are not old enough to remember the horrors of war to pass judgement on a man such as that.
War is different to civilian life; far more than we can imagine. It is something which is as alien to us as the Moon. Normal rules do not apply, normal conventions do not apply if you want to survive and win. You do what you have to do, you follow orders, and hopefully, you make it out alive. It is indefensible to impose civilian justice on a man who has risked his life for his country and the government of the time. What does justice demand; a trial before peers. How many of his peers would convict? None. How many would be brought; very few - they have all passed on.
The war is over. The Nazis were vanquished, and the dead should be left to rest in peace. This does nothing but score cheap shots of political gain, and at the expense of a man who wants to live his final years in peace. Crime? Who commits the crime here?
Anybody who thinks that German soldiers should be tried for killing the jews, should also think long and hard as to wether the Pilots from the Enola Gay should have been executed, or the creators of the atom bomb should have been imprisoned as well.
Because, they were only following orders as well.
theres a difference between a war that is an army against another army to a genocide of a people, killing 6 milion jews is an act of genocide. the zeneva agreement has all the rules of war, theres a rule that says not to kill an enemy soldier that have been surendered, like in the italian case.
these kind of trials are against those commanders in the nazi army who ordered these kind of acts, not against a simple soldier that only done what he was told.
from what u are saying DJP, if a war breaks and our army has conqured a town of the enemy, is it ok for me to take this opertunity, round up all the towns people and just kill them, wait for the war to be over and then no one will have anything against me coz i did what i did in a time of war?
The geneva conventions didnt exist in 1944.
The Geneva Convention has been around for decades and get updated to cover advances in warfare...
As for War Crimes, there comes a point when we have to say enough. The people we need to bring to justice (or at least out on trial) are those at the top, the leaders, the general who gave the order. Not the grunts who followed them.
The German leadership has gone, its about time people learned to forgive. Its really sad that some people are driven by this hatred 60 years later...is that all their lives have amounted to?
[edited to add:]
Thanatos' point shouldn't be ignored either.
In war you are given orders, and you have to follow them. Or you are shot as mutineer, traitor whatever.
In the German's case they were ordered to kill a civillian. If they refused they would be shot and someone else would kill the civvie later. Two people die needlessly instead of one.
[ 08-05-2002: Message edited by: Man Of Kent ]
I asure you that if someone of your family would have been murdered by the nazis you would still hate them.
someone that have seen all of his family been shot to death before his eyes cant forgive.
true that in 20-25 years there will be noone alive of the nazis or their victims and the nazi crimes will only be in history books and old films.
Well there are many geneva conventions...The first one was to do with amelioration of wounded right back in 1864...The geneva convention that dealth with prisoners of war didnt exist until 1949.
The name, rank, serial number thing is from the Hague conventions(laws ans customs of war on land and the adaption to maritime warfare). The treatment of prisoners part coming into force in 1910.
Yes im sad and i did far too much reading on international law <IMG SRC="frown.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">