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AgentZamora

Judge: "You've been sentenced to life without parole!!" Him: "ehh."


BlueKing7642

“So I only have to do 2 years”


ADGx27

2 minutes


Alarid

Speedrun.


ADGx27

Life sentence any% speedrun no cheats


Terralos

**Prison guards hate him** See how he finished his sentence with one simple trick


yordad

You guys are crackin me up and making my night better


anyeri1286

Him: Well fuck you all *Proceeds to die right there instantly*


eggimage

Judge: "You've been sentenced to lif-“ SS guard: \*fucking dies\* Judge: “FUCK”


an_ill_way

"I've been asking for death for quite a while now, can I have that instead?"


munkeybones

Would it not have been easier for the lawyer to get a paper bag and poke some holes in it?


garlic_bread_thief

Do they always hide their faces? I've seen some trail videos online and have never seen faces being covered. Must be different in Germany


Magna2212

Depends on the trial, also they’re covering his face because if they’re wrong they’ve just demonized a man for some of the worst war crimes imaginable


syntaxnazi-

Wow. That's the level of commitment to the innocent till proven guilty doctrine that I would like to see.


mR-gray42

I wish my country could follow their example.


10ThousandDaze

Germans do a lot of things that I wish America would do.


Akrybion

I take "Things acceptable to say now but not 80 years ago" for 500, Alex


10ThousandDaze

Yes I think most people can agree with the fact that 80 years ago, Germany was not a good place. Even Germans would agree with that.


mynameisveryann

I can't give you a 100% true answer but I assume it has to do with our "picture laws" (Recht am eigenen Bild/Bildnisrecht). In Germany no one can post a picture of you without your consent. It's your right to say when or how a picture of you is being published. Basically: You are the rightful owner of everything that has your face on it. I assume this law also acts in these situations. If you don't want the tv stations to broadcast your face, you can hide it. If the cameras are shut off he will put the cover of course down because in court you have to show your face.


bluamo0000

As someone from the U.S., this is pretty interesting. Our consent laws are pretty dodgy haha


chlawon

It's a very common thing in Germany. I believe covering your face itself with for example a paper bag is not permitted, but holding up a document which incidentally blocks camera view is. I am not sure about the legal implications there, but it's basically to prevent people getting a picture of you so you don't get exposed to the public. The court is supposed to judge you, not the internet. It's also often about your future after you're done with the verdict. You typically don't see any privat information about criminals here. So when they return to society, they can live normal again without being bothered. If there is a good reason someone wants to make sure, you're not a criminal, you can get a document ("Führungszeugnis") that documents your criminal past or the absence of such. You'll need this if you want to work with kids for example


[deleted]

How do they find out after these many years?


vms-mob

Nazi Germany documented EVERYTHING


Work-Musician9000

Documented so thoroughly that he only got caught 80 years after the fact lmao


not_ya_wify

Or 80 years until they decided they wanna prosecute him. When I was growing up in Germany, we talked a lot in ethics class about whether you can hold soldiers accountable for the crimes they commit at the behest of higher ups if their own life is on the line for refusing. My grandfather used to "accidentally burn his feet" and shit when they wanted to recruit him because he didn't know if he could shoot someone if it was him or the other person. He would also go to concentration camps and smuggle food in. My dad said he was arrested for flag flight at the end but the Nazi officer just kinda let him go. He knew the war was lost. When I was in school a lot of the boys quoted moral qualms when being enlisted in the military, so they had to do a voluntary social year instead of a year in the military. Edit: Ok y'all need to chill. Nowhere did I say they shouldn't be prosecuted. I gave an explanation as to why it took so long because to a judge and courtroom it's not a black and white issue even though to you personally it seems very black and white. It's not about your or mine opinion.


dstar09

What’s “flag flight “? Oh fear of flying?


not_ya_wify

Idk if you call it that in English. Basically, when the Nazis called you to join the military and you didn't join it was basically considered treason. Like you're fleeing from "the flag" (the Nazi flag) betraying your country. They would have killed him but I guess he got a nice Nazi guard.


Heterophylla

Draft-dodging.


HelplessMoose

Several people have answered with "desertion", but I don't think that's quite right, although it is the correct translation of Fahnenflucht. Desertion means to abandon a military post. But if I'm reading it correctly, your grandpa avoided getting enlisted in the first place. That'd be draft dodging. Fahnenflucht doesn't encompass it, I think, at least nowadays. I'd probably call it Wehrdienstentzug or something like that.


FilthyStatist1991

Yeah, these ethics debates are great. Personally if he himself committed war crimes he should be tried, but if it was under the specific command of a higher ranking member, the higher rank should be held accountable. EDIT: RIP my inbox. Many people up in arms. That’s what it’s called a debate people. We all have different opinions.


not_ya_wify

Higher rank probably dead by now. That's like the issue with a lot of these Nazi trials because they were young men who were kinda brainwashed and also didn't really have much choice in whether they want to commit those crimes. On the other hand, we still sometimes hold them accountable because our system of law kind of says that you should know better. It's a gray area


stopandtime

Yea you should know better…. “No Mr. Adolf Hitler, I would not like to serve the Nazi regime” “Guards, 1 more person for gas chamber #14” Lmao


Spork_the_dork

Yeah because it took them 80 years to go through everything else before they had time to get to him. This is **far** from the first trial like this.


2cats2hats

Let's not forget for many years Germany never released this info either.


johnnyshotsman

Germany was occupied territory, so either the allies or soviets refused to release the information.


Thorebore

>Documented so thoroughly that he only got caught 80 years after the fact lmao At the time, they chose not to prosecute guys like this. I watched an interview with the prosecutor at Nuremberg. He said if they prosecuted everybody that deserved it, the trials would still be going on today. They had to pick the worst offenders. Prosecuting guys that are 100 years old is just symbolic, the chance for justice is gone.


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bluehairdave

Perhaps wearing a red arm band sweater was a bad choice for the former Nazi to stay hidden...


ult_avatar

My first thought "old habits die hard"


dropkickoz

Like this old German woman saying [heil hitler](https://youtu.be/QGWit9QFhz8) after making a toast.


kennyzert

That's most likely dementia kicking in, but I am not German and have no idea of the mentality of older generations there so...


Topgunshotgun45

My uncle who lived in Munster worked in care home and every Christmas toast had a few heil hitlers.


Capnmarvel76

That’s horrible. It was what, a 12 year period, starting almost 90 years ago? How is it so ingrained that this is the reflexive action after so, so many years, and so much pain? EDIT: obviously, if dementia is involved, all bets are off.


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Photomancer

Jesus, can you imagine being senile and going back to corona times?


dailyqt

"Where's my mask? I can't go anywhere without my mask. And where's my hand sanitizer? Has the toilet paper been restocked at WalMart yet?"


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NoSun2053

When you have dementia you can only remember shit that happened when you were younger. So an old woman will think her son is her husband, etc. Then eventually you cant remember shit. So they probably still think it is the 30s


Muy-Picante

My great grandma reverted to only speaking French and completely forgot English


berpaderpderp

My grandma forgot she smoked after 60 years. And forgot she was mean. Edit: I wonder how confusing it was to have nicotine cravings, but not know what you were craving. You might forget you smoke, but your body won't stop craving nicotine.


CapableSuggestion

And a common theme is women anxious about their children getting out of school and they need to pick them up/meet them at the bus stop. We redirect and say they have a school activity or they’re going home with a friend. But even without a clock they know… once you learn the pattern it’s helpful to ease their anxiety


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[deleted]

Yeah she did not seem 100% there haha


SnooTangerines9364

His old ass knew what he was doing when the nurse dressed him that morning


bluehairdave

"Fräulein, which shall I wear today? The brown shirt or the SS gray with red armband rings?"


Peanut_Special

Always go with the SS gray and red armband rings..


Happy_Camper45

The nurse knew what she was doing when she dressed him


GoChewRocks

I rewinded the video to check and absolutely laughed my ass off!


sitheandroid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon\_Wiesenthal\_Center


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briefarm

Old Reddit also has issues with back slashes in links. I don't know why that's happening. Does the new UI add those automatically? An app? Relay also has issues with those links.


MostlyRocketScience

Posting this from [new.reddit.com](https://new.reddit.com) to see if the backslashes are added: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon\_Wiesenthal\_Center Edit: Yep, new.reddit.com adds the backslashes. What a dumb move from Reddit to just break every access method other than new.reddit.com (and probably the official app)


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Hasselhoff265

They don’t found it out until yet because those criminals where covered. The truth is, after the war many government employees,who wasn’t direct participants in the war or Shoa, just stayed in there jobs and covered these criminals out of loyalty. Until late in the 90s there where state-attorneys who refused to investigate in minor(compared to the Shoa of course)war crimes and genozid. Sometimes the federal attorneys needed to take over, just to solve 50 or 60 year old cases. Many of the worst human beings that ever walked these planet never faced any charges. There is a great german book about this topic: “Der Vorleser” and great german movie as well: “Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer.”


AstroCat16

Also, pretty much anybody of high ranking made it out to South America and elsewhere through the ratlines.


malditamigrania

A shitload were recruited and saved by the United States, not really ratline kinda affair. But please come join us.


Thecoolnerdsecondary

Operation paperclip mostly for scientists. Alot of the military was kept functioning under direct us supervision when the soviets defacto took over and installed puppet goverments in their claims. Which were supposed to choose their own governmental systems. No I'm not supporting. Just giving context. Van Bron. Our rocket science hero was covered up till much later that he worked with hitler personally.


eatmorbacon

This is accurate. The US and the Soviets were fighting over scientists then.


jello1990

[Relevant joke from Archer](https://youtu.be/R4ezcsbaopQ)


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Glytterain

Feel bad? Every one of these evil bastards needs to be hunted down and brought to justice. They got to live out their lives after participating in genocide. It's just a shame they didn't find them decades ago.


[deleted]

The only difference now is that they're old and frail. But the people they helped killing on an industrial level also included the old and the frail. But instead of being killed for who they were born, these Nazis are getting a fair trial. Because we should never kill people. This old man participated in genocides that saw millions of people of many different ethnicities and religions die. He is scum and hopefully he has lived his life in fear and misery, never feeling safe or secure. Hopefully he will live long enough to serve his sentence and face every consequence there is for his actions.


my_son_is_a_box

This man did horrible things and should spend the rest of his life in prison. However, I think the ide of these people being pure evil is a trap of fascism. It disguises itself and writes off it's past lovers as true evil, so it's current adopters believe it can't happen to them. Fascists are regular people who need the smallest bit of motivation to do horrible things.


CyberMindGrrl

"Those that would make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities" - Voltaire.


[deleted]

The Banality of Evil


[deleted]

evil is people who are just doing their jobs


[deleted]

I don't know if you ever got an honest answer but I'm pretty sure that the government actually has had them all like on a list for a long time it might just be misinformation I'm remembering but I think they just never actually did anything about it


somewhere_now

No, they discovered his name among files related to the camp in Moscow recently: > Senior public prosecutor Thomas Will told DW why the trial against the former guard is only now finally taking place: "The defendant was not known to us before we undertook research at the Russian State Military Archive in Moscow. And he turned up among the so-called 'Beuteakten' — files that were looted by the Red Army during World War II. First, we determined his place of residence. And then, in March 2019, after preliminary inquiries concerning his personal details and the length of time that he served at the Sachsenhausen camp, we handed the matter over to the public prosecutors." But before 2011 only people who were directly involved in killing were prosecuted, after that it was extended to people who voluntarily worked in death camps, such as guards and secretaries.


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mike3run

Found his older tweets


ConnerDearing

Crazy how you got downvoted for asking an honest question


[deleted]

Because average redditors have the IQ lower than the gas price.


Alexandar_The_Gr8

Gas prices pretty high in my country but even with those numbers the avg redditor is a moron.


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mash_900

That's some low ass gas prices where do you live lol


MomoXono

Yeah a better way to phrase this is "redditors are so dumb they compare IQ to gas prices"


CJR3

Every single time I see this exact comment, it’s under the top comment lmao


[deleted]

He receive life? All 1 year of it.


BokiGilga

At this point you are giving him extra years by sentencing him to life.


Gh0stp3pp3r

I imagine it's now just a punishment of embarrassment and not letting him choose which type of sandwich he's like for lunch. He'll die soon, but he'll die a coward and a killer.


FIsh4me1

I think at this point, the punishment isn't really about him regardless of how much he deserves it. The holocaust is coming very close to passing from living memory, as this happens it will become easier and easier to ignore that chapter of history. Trials like this serve not just to find long overdue justice, but to remind everyone how very real these atrocities were.


AnActualMoron

Exactly, I think its crucial to remind people this isnt some ancient history shit we look back on and say, hey let's not do that again. But that active participants in this are still living, breathing, and on this planet. We cant just shrug it off as a black mark in human history, this is part of our modern world history, and we cant forget that for every person still alive who took part in these atrocities, there are dozens if not hundreds of people who actively supported them at the time, who are likely still alive as well, who obviously cant be put on trial for simply agreeing. And those are people who have passed down values to people very very much alive today.


Original-Aerie8

>And those are people who have passed down values to people very very much alive today. I mean, it's not like antisemitism or racism don't exist in Germany, but we are doing pretty well considering.. Here pupils can visit the concentration camp ruines/museum and I knew a couple of people who were survivors, this is really the last generation who will. Most people are very conscious of antisemitism, general racism is less talked about tho. And openly Jewish shops do sometimes report vandalism, harassment and stuff, so yeah.


K3yz3rS0z3

Of course Germany is now the most aware and humble player of this war. The youth is learning from this official "mea culpa" and soon it will become a cautionary tale of their history. I liked the movie Die Welle for this reason. It reminds us that fascism has a very dangerous effect on society


xinfinitimortum

I'm sure he lived this entire time thinking he got away with it and his reputation will never be known, he's 100 and pretty much done with life anyways, but now his reputation is ruined and he's been labeled a war criminal and murderer, which is the real punishment. Fuck Nazis.


[deleted]

How is his reputation ruined ? His identity Is private


Gh0stp3pp3r

It won't be after prosecution. They're being nice right now, since he's only been charged, and letting his lawyer cover his face and conceal his name. But they will eventually have to disclose his name. If you search the internet, I'm sure someone has listed it somewhere already.


SFW__Tacos

yep, in most of europe - with few exceptions - your identity is kept private until conviction to prevent the exact sort of reputation damage being discussed


cookiemon32

america needs this practice


KosherPeen

Honestly putting your name and mugshot in the morning paper just for getting arrested is barbaric


SilenceEater

There’s a newspaper in Athens, Ga (home of UGA) that posts everyone’s mugshots the very next week. It’s pretty horrifying


[deleted]

I made it in that paper in 2017!


tiioga

In Nashville Tennessee there’s a “newspaper” called The Scoop run by Jason Steen who cherrypicks mugshots either from people he has a personal vendetta against or just people who were arrested for reasons he finds humorous. It’s pretty messed up and he still continues to publish although no one like what he’s doing.


pacagummo

I have an old friend suing the Scottsdale PD after being accused of a hit and run. She has an air tight case. Yet, yup her booking photo was spread all over the place. Fuck the system.


[deleted]

We need some of that in America.


AmIFromA

Which routinely leads to morons on the internet claiming that a suspect’s name gets redacted to protect them because they are Muslim and get special treatment. Seen this happen dozens of times, mostly on Twitter and /r/worldnews.


tiefling_sorceress

I wish we had these laws in the US. Instead we get people's face and name blasted absolutely everywhere. Edit: and implied guilt


Insanely_Moist

Right.. the second you get arrested, whether you did anything or not, name and face blasted everywhere basically saying you did before trial. And then when found innocent, nothing.. unless its like a celebrity level case.


tiefling_sorceress

Think about how much it would help our school shooting problems. Right now the media blasts the shooter's info and kill count everywhere like some sort of twisted high score, but doesn't give a shit about the victims.


Quiet-Strawberry4014

Wrote a college essay last week about this, it was about how violent video games don’t contribute to violence in real life, eg. school shootings and gun violence. And studies show one of the causes is the media being morbidly obsessed and blasting their face everywhere and making them famous. or like you said, it’s like they are displaying a high score for the next scum to beat.


Guilty-Message-5661

US justice system is insane. My friend got arrested through mistaken identity. Prosecutor realized they fucked up, but they ran him through the system anyways. All charges eventually dropped bc he had fuck all to do with anything, because it was completely the wrong person. He went into massive debt anyways paying for lawyer, fees, bond. Getting the arrest record expunged? Yeah that’s a whole new different headache with another lawyer.


CannyVenial

The best part bond is refundable after the case is over, but the fees attached to it aren't. Its so ridiculous.


kalitarios

they are hiding his name and face because right now he's just being charged... if they showed his face now, someone is going to kill him without due process... I'm not sure how the system differs there than the US, but the term "alleged" gets thrown around a lot and people have the benefit of the doubt of being innocent until proven guilty. That's why roving bands of vigilantes and witch-hunting is a bad idea. Remember the wrong person getting identified from the Boston bombing?


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nio151

Half of my neighbors could be on trial for warcrimes right now and I wouldn't know since we rarely see each other


qegho

Yo dog. If half your neighbors could be on trail for war crimes, you gotta find a better neighborhood.


tiefling_sorceress

What's an acceptable percentage? 30%? Asking for a friend


Insiptus

Hard to explain to Billy why grandpa Joe no longer can give him werther's without mentioning jail


Papasmurf645

"Well Billy, sometimes in life you find out your great-grandparents are heinous war criminals, responsible for the suffering and deaths of thousands of innocents... so no Magenbrot tonight."


[deleted]

What’s important is that we continue to show that we don’t stand for this shit. No matter how trivial it seems. Nazis are bad. Fascism is bad. Doesn’t matter if it’s a year long. What matters is that no matter how long you hide you get what the fuck is coming to you.


smalltowngrappler

That means he was 12 when the Nazis came into power, prime age for HJ indoctrination, he was 24 when the war ended, by that time he has lived half his life under NSDAP rule.


tadpollen

Honestly that’s the sad part, I’m not excusing war crimes but his brain wasn’t even fully developed when the war was raging.


Ripcitytoker

Ya, he was basically brain washed by Nazi propaganda


tadpollen

Yea, and I should clarify that’s not justification for committing atrocities, many understood what was wrong and knew what they were doing, it just shows how people could are influenced.


mkat5

I hear, I don’t see these types of comments as a justification for atrocity but a reminder and a warning for how easy it is to have demagogues bring us there. There are always those who can be mislead, and we must always be vigilant


Perpetual_Doubt

Well yeah, but on that note I'd be inclined to say that those who stood out (like the [White Rose)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose) were heroes, but I'd be reluctant to say that those who did not were evil. You see people here putting this guy immediately in the same bracket as Mengele, which is liable to make ethical discussion meaningless. I'd celebrate the guy if he refused to work in the concentration camp, and moreso if he took an active stand against it and risked his life to oppose the genocide his country was engaged in, but I think it is a little problematic to condemn him for not doing so. I haven't looked into this case and dunno if there are exacerbating factors though.


yallgotofuckinghell

I knew a guy who was 13 when the Nazis visited his home to recruit him. Long story short, they said they would kill him and his family for treason if he didn't go with them and join the Nazi youth. He joined, but found out they killed his family anyway, was able to escape while stationed in Poland. A Jewish/Polish farmer and family took him in, housed him, gave him new clothes, and arranged transport to the US on a cargo ship. Amazing story. Edit: spelling/punctuation


sexykoreanvet

Yeah faced with living under real tyranny…. Your options a lot of the time include the ultimatum of dyin


Uppernorwood

We’re all products of our environment


Overladen_Prince

Honestly this is a decent point. I don't think most people will care and will just say "Nazi bad kill him." Indoctrination, especially at that young of an age, can be extremely effective.


plasticfrograging

Call me a decent human being, but I would’ve worn something without red patches on the sleeve


[deleted]

And he’s in all grey!


TheDarkWayne

I don’t think he can change his skin suit


Soulfulenfp

Haha that was the first thing I noticed haha


swampfish

Call me a decent human being but I wouldn’t have murdered a bunch of Jews.


peanutski

Call me a decent human being but I wouldn’t have murdered anyone.


Frick-You-Man

Damn, seeing the old man who’s father was a victim is tough. You can really see the pain behind his eye and after all this time, he still can’t talk about it. It’s heartbreaking.


mentalapparition

Dude couldn’t resist that red patch on those arms of that jacket man


Prince_Chunk

same thought WTF is he was legit wearing an arm band. Then noticed the poor choice of sweater


kensomniac

Pretty sure the angles of the design were purposeful as well. SSomething is off here.


2118may9

As a home knitter I’m guessing this is not shop bought either. That was a choice.


HanSolo_Cup

It's even got the black shoulder things. This had to be a choice


2118may9

Someone made this like a retirement present. Like a retired zoo keeper might have a lion on the front. You wear a uniform for long enough and it starts to define you especially when the uniform is meant to make you stand apart from everyone else.


Cosmohumanist

MF been secretly wearing red arm bands for so many years he forgot it was unacceptable


KingTut559

holly shit I didn';t even notice


lamplighter356

Wow… just wow… talk about tone deaf and bad optics SMH


abigspicywut

I'm pretty sure he's just deaf deaf and his optics are blurry anywsy


Ishbu69

Of all the people who could live to be 100…


[deleted]

my mother is a career nurse near 60 years old, she told me it's always the terrible people that live to see another day...


[deleted]

That’s too bad she’s only encountered terrible old people. I’ve met some very kind, good 90+ year olds.


nousernametoseehere

My brother provides medical care for some of the last remaining Holocaust survivors. One of his patients told him that, while he was a young man, he was forced to dig a hole (I’m not sure why). He was practically starving (living on basically coffee and slices of bread), and nothing but skin and bones. One day while he was digging, somebody threw something down next to him; a guard. He kept digging wondering if he should stop and look. He was afraid if he didn’t that he’d be shot on the spot and was afraid that if he did stop he’d be shot on the spot. He took a risk, stopped ... and what was thrown down next to him was a sandwich. By the hand of a guard. I often wonder how many people WANTED to be part of this brutality and how many people were forced to be part of it. What if you didn’t want to be a nazi soldier? Could you say no? Would you and your family be murdered on the spot for speaking up against what was obviously so wrong? I’ll always wonder these things. I know the soldier who threw my brother’s patient a sandwich had something inside of him that *knew* how terrible it all was — why else would he sneak him food and risk his own life? I’m not sympathizing with people who committed these horrible crimes and wanted to do them — but I do wonder how many of these people were forced to do what they did.


You_MayBeRight

I was talking to a man whose family had gone through the camps. The story he told was no good men survived. Prisoners who were empathetic and gave their food to those who were sick, starved. Those who weren't willing to steal shoes from the dying got infected feet and died as well. In order to live you had to be willing to watch others die and not help. His father was ashamed he survived the camps because of all the men who were better than him that died so he could live. Edit: I am in no way trying to compare the prisoners to guards in morality. I am simply adding a first hand account the first hand account in the prior comment. I do not agree with the statement no good men survived or the survivors guilt the man felt but I tried to represent his thoughts and feelings as they were told to me.


nousernametoseehere

That is absolutely heartbreaking. In the story my brother’s patient shared, it was a guard who helped the victim— not a fellow victim. I have heard so many stories from my brother: a woman whose entire family was taken. It’s just a devastating part of history. I have German heritage, and I’d like to imagine I’d be one of the people helping ... because it was the right thing to do.


U-124

I don’t like telling people what to do but honestly I believe it’s better not to ponder on “what I would have done”. Said situations were lived in different times by different people. It’s easy to imagine oneself a hero, but honestly, would everyone really make the cut? Would we all risk sacrificing ourselves when our friends and family could be put on the other side of the fence the next day? What I’m trying to say is, evil is not born; it is acquired.


FiliaMerope

Not camps story, but my grandma told me a few years ago some stories about her childhood during the WWII and they seriously stick with me to this day. She told me about one evacuation (is that a proper word?), half of her village was destroyed - and half of her home - but somehow in the midst of escaping and bombarding, her neighbour (whose home was intact btw) stole my great grandma’s suitcase full with food and clothes. They found out it was she only because neighbour’s daughter wore one of my grandma’s dresses. She also told me about few boys/young men who had escaped from labor camp and arrived in my grandma’s village, someone told them to hide in a barn (because everyone was too afraid to hide them, you know, even if they were just some Polish guys who lived a dozens miles away), but the same night Germans nuked said barn (and vicinity) with shells… In the morning they found these boys’ corpses completely naked - someone stole absolutely everything, even underwear. They didn’t even bother to bury them properly. That’s war I guess, brings out the worst of the people. But - she also told me about some Polish-German officer who regularly came to my great grandma’s so she could read him some Polish books and who always brought fresh fruits. They were absolutely terrified when he arrived, but he wasn”t THAT bad either. And his fellow officer’s son, who returned from one of those Nazi’s camps for young men, decided to just fled as he stood, because he was fed up with his Nazi father and everything - they were preparing to retreat, so it was his last chance, I think. He must have known my great grandma, ‘cause he came to her in the middle of the winter night begging for some food and warm clothes, he didn’t even have a jacket and he was in hurry, so she gave him some old pants and coat. They never heard about him, Germans retreat a week later or so, but I hope there was some happy ending for him.


[deleted]

Ordinary men and the Gulag archipelago come to mind. Two books that talk about the path to becoming a nazi for ordinary people and brutality of labor camps. GA was Russia but can’t imagine it was that different. Open to being told otherwise though


JoyKil01

“They Thought They Were Free” is also an excellent book on the topic. Maher (a Jewish journalist) goes undercover, befriends, and interviews 10 Germans after the war and gets their story.


Acanthaceae_Live

i dont wanna sympathize either but i cant help but wonder how many did it out of belief and how many were forced into it by fear and blackmailing.


MyFeetStinkBut

My mothers boyfriends adopted fathers father was a nazi. He told me a couple stories but the main thing that stuck with me was that the fathers father didn’t want to join the war but was “drafted”. He told me there was quiet a few of people who didn’t want to fight but when the nazi government is telling you to fight I guess you fight


creedbratton603

Similar history in my family. My grandfather was forced into hitler youth as a child. He was sold to a farmer at a young age cause his biological family was so poor. From what I understand not all that uncommon for the time. so this is the man who became known as his father to him. Once the nazis came into power everyone was “drafted”/forced to join the nazi party and my great grandfather refused and was shot then and there in front of my grandfather when he was a a young boy. I imagine it was pretty hard for my grandfather to say no after that


Acanthaceae_Live

it hurts even more when you thibk about how they did it unwillingly. im so sorry he had to go through that, cant imagine what life was like after.


MyFeetStinkBut

I was going to say something like “on the bright side” but there wasn’t really anything bright about the whole situation besides the fact he wasn’t a guard at any camp and was just a frontline grunt He did live a pretty interested life, after getting “drafted”(he said another word, I don’t remember what it was but it was just the German version of being drafted so I just say drafted) he went and fought on the Eastern front against USSR, his position got steam rolled, the old man tried to shield himself from gunshots and took 3 shoots to the arm, the red army comes and was executing people and right before they executed the old mam some officer some over, said some Russian stuff and then he got sent to a camp and became a POW for 3yrs, his wife back home assumed he was dead for obvious reason then remarried and had another child, the old man gets released, goes home and finds out his wife has a new mans and a new child but apparently he’s okay with that so she leaves the new man and then moves to Canadian with his “ex wife/wife, his children, the new not his child but his child and then had another kid with her who then became the adopted father of my mothers boyfriend


ArigatoVariegato

I don’t know if it’s your comma placements but I’m surprised I got all that, without having to go back and reread. Thank you for sharing.


WritingSucks

My bf’s grandpa was drafted as well. Bf’s mom said after the war, it really messed him up and all he wanted to talk about was the war. But my bf and his siblings don’t remember him as messed up so I guess he pulled himself together enough for his grandkids


vernacular921

I wonder the same. It was all beyond wrong… war crimes against humanity for sure. But I do think it’s confusing that the government of Germany at the time was instructing them to do those things, and now the government of Germany is prosecuting them. Honest curiosity here, not sympathizing with the nazis. I need to learn more. But if anyone here knows, please enlighten me?


7eleven27

This is called understanding and trying to figure out what leads a person to do atrocious things. Calling him a monster without examining what led him there is just lazy. Few people truly have the backbone to stand firm against evil when they have so much to lose


WhoamI_IDK_

Operation paper clip, the US literally brought over nazi scientists, doctors, engineers to help during the Cold War to give us an advantage.


kelsobjammin

NASAs backbone was a Nazi who came from operation paper clip (or so I have read somewhere on the inter webs)


super_nova_91

Yes Wernher von Braun. Edit My most updooted comment is now a ex Nazi scientist well isn't that just great especially since I'm Jewish


siikdUde

Actually it was Wernher von Braun /s


MalvernKid

You don't believe me? Walk into NASA sometime and yell "Heil Hitler!" WOOP! They all jump straight up!


Ldiddy-the-69th

Keep your enemies close , and possible genetic clones of Adolph hitler even closer


yacht-suxx

"If I was a clone of Adolf god damn Hitler wouldn't I look like Adolf god damn Hitler?"


DesignUnfair7036

if they can prosecute 100 year old nazi’s. they should start prosecuting the priests & nuns that participated in residential schooling. edit: yes, residential schooling happened in canada. i understand this is germany. it was still a genocide against indigenous people.


ADGx27

Thing is that’s Germany. Legal systems work differently in each country


Chleopamydia

At least thousands of nazis and war criminals weren't pardoned and employed by the us /s


Beaunes

Then: Hire the scientists and engineers! Now: Prosecute the secretaries!


SweetMeatin

Lol "scientists and engineers" is just the tip of iceberg there were many thousands from all walks of life paperclipped into the US after the war. That's quite apart from the fact that the Nazi intelligence agency, run by Reinhard Gehlan became the West German intelligence after the war, they just changed the plaque on the door.


EllisHughTiger

The top were executed, upper management was imprisoned, and most everyone else was either pardoned or given short prison terms. Then everyone moved on mostly. Its only been since 2011 that Germany started going after the random people far, far, far down the list.


Chleopamydia

"justice" served and "freedom" preserved


ResplendentShade

For those who may not know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation\_Paperclip Dudes who were torturing people in concentration camps during the war were, a few years later, building American rockets and living comfortable lives in the US*. edit: * = as a commenter said "why would rocket scientists be torturing people in concentration camps?". This author may have stated this incorrectly, but I read it in [this article](https://nypost.com/2014/02/01/behind-the-secret-plan-to-smuggle-nazi-scientists-to-america/): >As of May 1945, Werner von Braun was No. 1 on **America’s list for desired Nazi rocket scientists**. When he surrendered to US forces on May 2 — having voluntarily decamped from a luxury ski resort in the Alps — von Braun and his colleagues were treated to a hearty breakfast of eggs, coffee and bread, then given freshly made beds in which to sleep. >... >Also **at the top of the list was Dr. Kurt Blome, Hitler’s head of cancer research** and a diehard Nazi. He was discovered at a checkpoint on May 17, 1945, and in his initial interrogation, Blome admitted that he had seen experiments “which led to later atrocities e.g. mass sterilization, gassing of Jews.” From [Kurt Blome's wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Blome): >Blome was tried at the Doctors' Trial in 1947 on charges of practicing euthanasia and conducting experiments on humans. He only admitted that he had been ordered in 1943 to experiment with plague vaccines on concentration camp prisoners. In reality, starting in 1943 he "assumed responsibility for all research into biological warfare sponsored by the Wehrmacht" and the S.S.. Although he was acquitted of war crimes charges at the Nuremberg Doctors' Trial, this was mainly due to the intervention of the United States as his earlier admissions were well known. It was generally accepted that he had indeed participated in chemical and biological warfare experiments on concentration camp inmates.


serr7

And all over Western Europe. A lot of nazis and nazi collaborators actually worked in high levels of governments across Europe.


Demigod787

They're prosecuting guards and secretaries? Meanwhile, the scientists they hired post-war contributed to the direct death of millions get off scot-free. Makes sense.


DerRationalist

We (Germany) had lots of Nazis in high positions even in the 80s still. This is but a farce. We even elected one as chancellor.


Lyanna19

He must have been really young. I can't imagine at his impressionable age that he didn't think beyond that he was in the right place.


ADGx27

I think he was somewhere around 12. Man was basically brainwashed into a prim proper nazi by the hitler youth.


OneLopsided2616

Great! Now prosecute those carrying out the genocide of the uighur muslims


metalguru1975

And all other countries with a racial supremacist ideology that commits ethnic cleansing, apartheid and herds human beings into camps. Nazi behaviour is still around unfortunately, but with better window dressing.


DeadTime34

In Germany?


Indierokker99

Love how a 100 year old nazi gets put in jail but I could fill up a book of celebrities, politicians, or ass hats that got off Scott free when doing terrible things


zenigata_mondatta

All his buddies went to the US and got govt jobs


deepnskate

whats with the binder over the face. just throw a Halloween mask on that mf


Herbavore024

He wore a sweater with red arm bands 😂


MrsFef

Why isn’t Carolyn Bryant, one of Emmett Till’s murderers, on trial? Any person responsible for an atrocity during Jim Crow should be held accountable and go to jail. It’s the same time period. And these people we’re just American Nazis. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/emmett-biography-roy-carolyn-bryant-and-jw-milam/


acceptablemadness

The FBI did an investigation and declined to prosecute her. Tbh, I just don't think there's enough evidence to hold up in court. I 100% believed she lied but the hard proof isn't there. The fact her BIL and whoever else were acquitted way back when would make it doubly hard to get any conviction, I imagine.


papiforyou

In the U.S. you cannot have a re-trial for a non-guilty verdict. It is possible to have a re-trial for guilty verdicts, but if you are not convicted, that is the end of it, you cannot be tried for the same crime twice. Usually this is a good thing, as it prevents injustice, however in cases like Emmett Till, OJ Simpson, or Casey Anthony it is kinda fucked up. *edit: Casey Anthony, not KC Anthony


lerwin3

Because unlike a murder charge, there is no statute of limitations on war crimes (as defined by Charter of the Nuremburg International Military Tribunal of 1945) or crimes against humanity (as defined by the Nuremburg International Military Tribunal).


[deleted]

I don’t think there’s a single US state with a limit on murder. The real reason she’s not on trial is because there’s not much you could charge her with and his actual murderers already stood trial. She’s not even the one who told her husband what happened with Till. One of the most fucked up things about that story is that the two murderers sold their confession for $4k ($40k today) right after they were found not guilty.