WHILE many eyes this week have been trained on the twenty-year sentence given to the 60-year-old Ghislaine Maxwell in a court in the United States, relatively few have noticed the five-year sentence given to the 101-year-old Josef Schütz in a court in Germany. While Maxwell was convicted largely of sex trafficking, the crimes of Schütz were far worse, for he was found guilty of being an accessory to the murders of 3,518 people.
Hi Walt. As is my want I've been thinking about my reaction to this excellent post before posting it. My answer to the main question is yes. Put them on trial. Sentence them to gaol time, but let them serve it as house arrest or some such. I'll now give my reasons. The Shoah must never be forgotten. Trials like this keep the memories of the horror alive and, hopefully, make it real to new generations. So, continue with the trials. The very, very old men found guilty of the crimes of their youth should be punished, but in a fashion that restricts their freedoms or controls them as they are physically and psychologically today, not as they were in their youth. The Human Rights Convention could be invoked in appeals against sentence as a breach of articles 2 or 3. You mention Oskar Gröning , the so called accountant of Auschwitz. His case is very different. He was tried after the war, and punished. After being interviewed for the excellent BBC series "Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution" he became an object of interest being highlighted again in the series "The Last Nazis" and the documentary "The Accountant of Auschwitz". Suddenly the German prosecuters decided to put him on trial, he was found guilty, basically condemned by his own words. I've not been comfortable with that as he had already been tried and punished. But, others know better. So, those like Schütz who deny guilt, for more serious crimes than those committed by Gröning, need to be put on trial. I recall Gröning talking about how he and others had stolen currency and other valuables that had been collected in "California" that they had to keep accounts for. Their barracks were to be searched, their lockers had been sealed, so they knocked out the backs of them to get their stash and hide it elsewhere. Why so scared? They were stealing the property of the Reich. And doubtless knew what had happened to Karl-Otto Koch, SS commandant of Buchenwald then Sachsenhausen when he was found guilty of doing the same thing. Imprisonment. (The conviction for murdering three very popular and useful prisoners was almost an afterthought). I wonder how more terrified they would have been had Koch faced an SS firing squad in 1943 instead of April 1945. It is a complex issue given their age, but if they still espouse the sort of twisted morality where an SS commandant gets tried for embezzlement whilst overseeing the murder of thousands in a machine they were part of either as a murderer like Schütz or an administrator like Gröning, and try to justify it. Well. They deserve all they get in this life and the next. And can keep each other company in that special corner of hell reserved for the SS.
The genocide really overrides any statute of limitations - and any active participants really do need to face consequences and justice as long as they live; however much they thought of themselves as mere apparatchiks of the system. They knew, they were not stupid and context of the time and sensibilities count little - Irma shrunk heads for god's sake - it was a vile society, and complicit. What was almost as bad was the German state's amnesia until the 60s - watch 'Labrynthe of Lies', a marvellous German film about the young Attorney who uncovers the reality of the genocide and the monsters that walked among them in beige cardigans instead of jackboots.
It is still important. Perhaps a trial can be a symbolic one--they're not going to the slammer. All of us continue to reap the consequences of choices--good and bad--that we made when young.
It is important for everyone to be reminded that the Holocaust was not only the result of some top down decisions by a few "bad apples". It was also the sum of hundreds of tiny decisions. The same goes for Maxwell. Just as Schurz could have said, "gee that SS uniform is cool, but I think I'll choose another service", Maxwell could have told Epstein "sure she's cute, but I'm not going to call her up for you". Enough small choices could have added up to preventing so much harm.
Well said. It’s just a pity that as you point in your book the search immediately after the war was not as in earnest as people might imagine. The victims are entitled to justice, even delayed justice.
Another great piece! Without exception my German relatives wholly support such action against even people of such an advanced age. I would strongly like to believe that this is the predominant view within German society. Although check out the hard hitting documentary ‘Final Account’ to challenge this view if you haven’t already...
It’s easy to look at someone’s frail Opa wearing a woollen cardigan, walking stick in hand, and assume there would be no upside to prosecuting the crimes of the younger version. However this is I would say a crucial part of the process for Germany’s healing and ongoing acknowledgement of this dark era.
Hi Walt. As is my want I've been thinking about my reaction to this excellent post before posting it. My answer to the main question is yes. Put them on trial. Sentence them to gaol time, but let them serve it as house arrest or some such. I'll now give my reasons. The Shoah must never be forgotten. Trials like this keep the memories of the horror alive and, hopefully, make it real to new generations. So, continue with the trials. The very, very old men found guilty of the crimes of their youth should be punished, but in a fashion that restricts their freedoms or controls them as they are physically and psychologically today, not as they were in their youth. The Human Rights Convention could be invoked in appeals against sentence as a breach of articles 2 or 3. You mention Oskar Gröning , the so called accountant of Auschwitz. His case is very different. He was tried after the war, and punished. After being interviewed for the excellent BBC series "Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution" he became an object of interest being highlighted again in the series "The Last Nazis" and the documentary "The Accountant of Auschwitz". Suddenly the German prosecuters decided to put him on trial, he was found guilty, basically condemned by his own words. I've not been comfortable with that as he had already been tried and punished. But, others know better. So, those like Schütz who deny guilt, for more serious crimes than those committed by Gröning, need to be put on trial. I recall Gröning talking about how he and others had stolen currency and other valuables that had been collected in "California" that they had to keep accounts for. Their barracks were to be searched, their lockers had been sealed, so they knocked out the backs of them to get their stash and hide it elsewhere. Why so scared? They were stealing the property of the Reich. And doubtless knew what had happened to Karl-Otto Koch, SS commandant of Buchenwald then Sachsenhausen when he was found guilty of doing the same thing. Imprisonment. (The conviction for murdering three very popular and useful prisoners was almost an afterthought). I wonder how more terrified they would have been had Koch faced an SS firing squad in 1943 instead of April 1945. It is a complex issue given their age, but if they still espouse the sort of twisted morality where an SS commandant gets tried for embezzlement whilst overseeing the murder of thousands in a machine they were part of either as a murderer like Schütz or an administrator like Gröning, and try to justify it. Well. They deserve all they get in this life and the next. And can keep each other company in that special corner of hell reserved for the SS.
Justice for the dead must always be seen to be done no matter the lapse of time.
Great piece.
The genocide really overrides any statute of limitations - and any active participants really do need to face consequences and justice as long as they live; however much they thought of themselves as mere apparatchiks of the system. They knew, they were not stupid and context of the time and sensibilities count little - Irma shrunk heads for god's sake - it was a vile society, and complicit. What was almost as bad was the German state's amnesia until the 60s - watch 'Labrynthe of Lies', a marvellous German film about the young Attorney who uncovers the reality of the genocide and the monsters that walked among them in beige cardigans instead of jackboots.
It is still important. Perhaps a trial can be a symbolic one--they're not going to the slammer. All of us continue to reap the consequences of choices--good and bad--that we made when young.
It is important for everyone to be reminded that the Holocaust was not only the result of some top down decisions by a few "bad apples". It was also the sum of hundreds of tiny decisions. The same goes for Maxwell. Just as Schurz could have said, "gee that SS uniform is cool, but I think I'll choose another service", Maxwell could have told Epstein "sure she's cute, but I'm not going to call her up for you". Enough small choices could have added up to preventing so much harm.
Well said. It’s just a pity that as you point in your book the search immediately after the war was not as in earnest as people might imagine. The victims are entitled to justice, even delayed justice.
Another great piece! Without exception my German relatives wholly support such action against even people of such an advanced age. I would strongly like to believe that this is the predominant view within German society. Although check out the hard hitting documentary ‘Final Account’ to challenge this view if you haven’t already...
It’s easy to look at someone’s frail Opa wearing a woollen cardigan, walking stick in hand, and assume there would be no upside to prosecuting the crimes of the younger version. However this is I would say a crucial part of the process for Germany’s healing and ongoing acknowledgement of this dark era.