The death camps of the Holocaust were a means of murdering millions of people, predominately Jews, under Nazi rule. Before the actual death camps Jews and Gypsies were forced to live in ghettos and Jews were forced to mark themselves with a yellow star
[1]. From the Nazi takeover in 1933, until the end of World War II in 1945 life was an active nightmare for Jews in German controlled territories. I say active because something like that doesn't just go away when the war is over, because the Berlin Wall still divided the city, and because survivors will always have the memories of that pain—it will never go away, it will always be a nightmare. Hitler killed himself, but other members of the Nazi party like Josef Mengele escaped and eluded capture until their death
[2].
Today, 94 year old Oskar Groening was sentenced to 4 years in prison for keeping the books in Auschwitz. Groening did not kill anyone but was indicted for aiding and supporting the Nazi regime knowing they were killing people. As I read the article, I couldn't help but think
what kind of victory is that? Children like Anne Frank suffered immense trauma and then
died at 16 years old
[3], but this man lived to 94 free as a bird. Sure he didn't actually kill anyone, but he watched it happen. Him walking away may not have changed anything, but it may have changed everything. Perhaps others would have followed suit and refused to help as well. Perhaps a revolt from the inside was exactly what was needed. Regardless, this man is already in poor health, I doubt he even lives through the entire sentence.
But why wait 70 years to prosecute someone? Clearly with people like Mengele, there was the issue of finding the accused. Groening who now asserts the acts were wrong, did not hide nor change his name. He even gave an interview on the acts and evidence shows that while there he complained about the method of killing but not the principle of killing the Jews
[4]. I can't imagine how it would feel to be a survivor, possibly finding peace, thinking most of the people who committed these heinous acts have either been persecuted or died on their own, only to find out that one's just been hanging out enjoying life in Germany and is only just being put on trial. And the comments! No matter how many times I've told myself not to read comments online, I can't help myself. Almost every article I saw had Holocaust deniers ranting in the comment section.
Regardless of the legality of charging this man 70 years later, or whether justice was served, the topic itself reminded me of how heartless people can be and of how much pain has been inflicted upon man by man.Whether I was supposed to be happy he was found guilty, or annoyed that he was charged 70 years later (or at all), I really only feel sad.
References:
- Reuters. "German Court Finds Bookkeeper of Auschwitz Guilty". Business Insider. July 2015
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum."Josef Mengele". Holocaust Encyclopedia. 2014
- "Anne Frank". Biography.com. 2015
- Rees, Laurence, "The Life of an Auschwitz Guard". Politico Magazine. 2015
- "The Holocaust". History.com. 2015
