What do you think of the work of the underground Nazi Hunters travelling the world post WW2 hunting down and executing Nazi war criminals? They were operating as vigilantes under no legal protection or government sanction. Many were Holocaust survivors themselves. Let us know if you think this justified or is it a violation of their victims' right to due process? Remember, few were actually punished and many were actually rewareded with cushy positions in other countries such as Werner Von Braun in USA. Also, more recently, The UN singled out 26 people to pay for the Ruanda genocide which "ethnicly cleansed" tens of thousands of Hutus in that country! These historical facts illustrate that we abhor the mass killings of a handfull of people while virtually rewarding the extermination of thousands or millions! Opinion?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.BTW, this is the book that inspired the question I posed. It didn't just pop up out of my head. The question is basically the theme of the book and it is a good read. I recommend it to anyone who finds this a compelling question.
fishline79
Level 7
July 7, 2018
0
More power to the vigilantes, since there's no justice in the system.
birdingnut
Level 8
July 6, 2018
0
Very good question. These war criminals are entitled to nothing in my opinion, however, the possibility that a mistake has been made, would hate to see an innocent taken out. I am a very very harsh person. I want to exceptions made for elder abuse in cases where he oldies abused the offenders when they were children.
Rugglesby
Level 8
July 6, 2018
0
I don't quite follow your response. It seems ambiguous. On the one hand you mention the possibility of a mistake (the heart of the question), then you go on to say you are harsh on "elder abuse". ?? I was only interested in the under-cover assasinations of perpetrators of the Nazi Holocaust.
@fishline79 A conundrum for me, if they are guilty they do not deserve due process, yet that is needed to prove them guilty. If I was one of the assassins and had no doubt as to their guilt, not a problem.
@Rugglesby I'll buy that!
We are full of contradictions when it comes to deciding who to condemn for crimes and who to condone. I would have no problem saying the nazi hunters were justified in hunting down and killing these mass murderers but on the other hand I believe in due process and the rule of law. I think in balance the scales would tip towards going down the legal route as otherwise lies anarchy.
Marionville
Level 10
July 6, 2018
0
If you read the book which inspired the question (Sam Bourne, The Final Reaconing), your answer addresses the main conflict of the story. Of course almost everybody has no sympathy for the scumbag Nazis but does that excuse what I call "The Charles Bronson (or Liam Neeson, if you prefer) syndrome, ie. one atrocity justifies another. You probably know that many of these retributions were carried out by the Israeli Secret Service (as with Mengele). Does that make it OK? A country, (or a People, if you will) instead of several individuals? It is a question with so many implications as to be almost impossible to answer.
@fishline79 Looks like we think along same lines.
There is a certain irony to expect victims of genocide to behave in a correct fashion when such massive crimes are overlooked
btroje
Level 9
July 6, 2018
0
I agree, but what is the rest of your statement? Do you mean their lack of the "Rule of Law" justifies retribution. But you still, as in Capital punishment, have the possibility of mistakes!
@fishline79 there isnt a clear answer
@btroje No, I guess there isn't but, of course I knew that when I posed the question. Just thought it an interesting topic for discussion. Cheers.
@fishline79 I could go both ways and just didnt want to spell that out
Simon Weisenthal, the Mosad, the Klarsfelds Serge & Beate were instrumental in realizing justice when others were occupied with Soviet expansionism. The Pope assisted the escape of many as the opposition to Communism overshadowed even the most horrific behavior imaginable exhibited by the 3rd Reich. It is a crime in itself that justice was never served for the worst events ever committed in history. & it will repeat itself as we do not learn from history. It is not a priority in our educational system. The result sits in the Oval Office today.
Mooolah
Level 8
July 6, 2018
1
This is probably the best response I have heard, but does that put you firmly on the side of the Mosad, etc.?
I think its wonderful. Too bad the plot to poison Concentration Camp Nazis only killed a few. Too many Nazis got away with the help of The Catholic Church.. I would have enjoyed watching them marching into the gas chambers and having their remains dehumanized-their, hair, teeth, valuables, and burned in the crematoriums.
Von Braun was the Nazi who headed NASA.
sassygirl3869
Level 9
July 6, 2018
0
I think Orwell put it quite succinctly when he wrote "We are all equal but some of us are more equal than others.'
It's very rare that the top brass take the fall for their crimes, that's what middle management is for, probably why there was so much outrage when the Jewish survivors started whacking those Nazi criminals, only the money backing the Israelis and the sense of collective guilt for allowing the Holocaust to happen made it possible to carry out those assassinations. Interestingly enough the Gypsies didn't get the same privileges to kill Nazis, nor did the Soviets that suffered terribly at the hands of the Gestapo.
Surfpirate
Level 9
July 6, 2018
1
Very good points. Also, remember what I said about the genocide in Rouanda (The fastest extermination of a group in history.) The entire world tried them and it ended up like Nuremburg with a handfull being held accountable. It's really an impossible question with too many answers!
@fishline79 A friend of mine was a combat nurse in Rwanda and he still suffers from PTSD from dealing with the dead and the dying during that tour. One village his squad went to had dozens of people who had limbs hacked off with machetes and his job was to sort through the pile of limbs to try and match up the bodies. The UN and the Canadian Armed Forces buried much of the atrocities that went on during that assignment.
@Surfpirate Your friend must be a special person. I can't imagine! Do you mean that some were still alive and the limbs viable, or was it just a courtesy to the dead and their families?
@fishline79 I didn't discuss it too intensely for concern of triggering him but I think it was more about identifying victims for burial by any of the survivors by the time a person could get to a surgery the limbs would not be viable for reattachment. On the bright side he retired from the military and after a few years of working as a nurse in a federal prison he won the lottery $6M and retired to a nice home on the water just down the road from me.
@Surfpirate Yikes! What Karma this guy must have!
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