96 Year Old Former Nazi Arrested - Necessary?

As 'Feelslikefar' said - She was a typist!!! I have some sympathy for ordinary people who find themselves under the rule of evil people. A 19-year-old typist would have been under pressure to do as she was told, not make waves, probably both from her superiors and her parents. It would take a very brave 19-year-old woman in those times to stand up to authority - and to what avail.

I understand the need for such atrocities to be addressed and for anyone involved to be brought to justice but do have some sympathy for her.

Edited to add ... Of course, I don't actually know her, none of us do I guess. For all we know, she could be a monster who took pleasure in whatever involvement she had. If so I would feel differently, no matter how young she was at the time.
 

Shero said:
Local media reported that the woman had left an old people's home in the city of Quickborn, so it seems she has no assets to confiscate.
She was 18 when this happened.
Can you imagine what would have happened to her if she did not type what the nazis told her to, it would be death by suicide or other means.

https://strrudel.com/secretary-of-evil-in-the-stutthof-concentration-camp-the-terrible-frau-furchner
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It is a great story, but how much of it is actually the truth? A lot of what is printed is based on conjecture, speculation and presumption. Only she knows the complete truth. If you take her at her word, she is probably innocent, but is she just trying to save herself with a made-up story? Before anyone is convicted, let's hope that there is enough solid evidence to do so and not just hearsay.
 
Shero said:
I agree. Did you read the link I put up from Strudel.com?
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I did look at it, and after your post went back and read it more completely. If her story is true, or there is no evidence to the contrary anyway I would hope she is quickly exonerated.

However I believe justice demands reasonable investigation and if there is sufficient evidence a trial. From press reports it appears the German authorities believe there is sufficient evidence.
 
Alligatorob said:
I did look at it, and after your post went back and read it more completely. If her story is true, or there is no evidence to the contrary anyway I would hope she is quickly exonerated.

However I believe justice demands reasonable investigation and if there is sufficient evidence a trial. From press reports it appears the German authorities believe there is sufficient evidence.
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I find it very difficult to believe she did not know what was going on. I have extended relations who are Jews and many of their relatives died in the camps. I would like to see anyone connected with this have a trial, but there is a space in my heart to say, what could she have done? For myself, suicide may have crossed my mind. I do not believe in suicide, but I could not have lived with such horrible cirumstances day after day.
 
oldman said:
It is a great story, but how much of it is actually the truth? A lot of what is printed is based on conjecture, speculation and presumption. Only she knows the complete truth. If you take her at her word, she is probably innocent, but is she just trying to save herself with a made-up story? Before anyone is convicted, let's hope that there is enough solid evidence to do so and not just hearsay.
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Yes, that is a fair way to go about it.
 
She will be tried in a juvenile court as she was 18 at the time. But how can the prosecution presume to know that an 18 year old girl who was tasked with transcribing shorthand into words, knew what was really going on?
 
mellowyellow said:
She will be tried in a juvenile court as she was 18 at the time. But how can the prosecution presume to know that an 18 year old girl who was tasked with transcribing shorthand into words, knew what was really going on?
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Sort of a survival story ? By that I mean in Nazi Germany it was likely wise to be on the side of the Nazis . And I'm sure she was paid something ? So perhaps she was just rrying to survive by taking the job as a typist . So she worked for the Nazis .... but was she an honest member of the party ? Was she an active participant in holocaust ?

IMO .... if she was ? ..... and it can be proven ? ......... Shoot her ...... if not, leave her be.
 
If old age was a reason to avoid prosecuting someone for a crime, wouldn't it also be OK to release elderly criminals who are serving a life sentence?
 
How many witnesses are still alive? Let sleeping dogs lye. Lynch mob mentality should be prosecuted if anything in this case.
 
Feelslikefar said:
She was a Typist? Someone who typed out the orders of others? Guess I need some other crime she committed.

During Vietnam, I loaded many thousand pounds of bombs to be dropped on both the enemy and civilians.
Should I be held responsible? I live with that role everyday of my life and ask myself how many innocents did I affect?

Easy to sit back now and ask for justice.

A Typist?
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Yes, a typist. Try reading the attachment.
 
Leonie said:
She was a typist!!! I have some sympathy for ordinary people who find themselves under the rule of evil people. A 19-year-old typist would have been under pressure to do as she was told, not make waves, probably both from her superiors and her parents. It would take a very brave 19-year-old woman in those times to stand up to authority
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But on the other hand she might have been an enthusiastic supporter of the Nazis. If there was an enthusiatic girl supporting a terrorist group who was texting messages to let terrorists know where to set a bomb in your town right now, would you not consider her an accessory to a crime?
 
I guess the big question here is: how much choice did she have at the time? Did she volunteer to work at the death camps? Was she an enthusiastic supporter? Or was she terrorized into taking that job?

Or maybe, if she was that young, she fell into what she thought was just a typing job, and by the time she did realize what she was a part of, she had no way to escape from it?

There are lots of unanswered questions.
 
The USA was quite happy to welcome the following people, justify that, if you can.
While in his twenties and early thirties, von Braun worked in Nazi Germany's rocket development program. He helped design and co-developed the V-2 rocket at Peenemünde during World War II. Following the war he was secretly moved to the United States, along with about 1,600 other German scientists, engineers, and technicians, as part of Operation Paperclip.[5] He worked for the United States Army on an intermediate-range ballistic missile program, and he developed the rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1 in 1958.
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HoneyNut said:
But on the other hand she might have been an enthusiastic supporter of the Nazis. If there was an enthusiatic girl supporting a terrorist group who was texting messages to let terrorists know where to set a bomb in your town right now, would you not consider her an accessory to a crime?
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No comparison.
 
Shero said:
She was working as a typist in the Nazi death camp for Commandant Hoppe. Hoppe dictated executions and deportations.

From the headquarters she could see the prisoners barracks, the gas chamber and the crematorium.

She knew, how can anyone take shorthand notes and not know what they mean, how are they going to type it out? Tell me, how?,
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In my long ago youth, I had a job as a stenographer, taking things down in shorthand and transcribing them. I sure as hell knew precisely what they meant.

BTW, from what I've read, I do not believe that just any random person was assigned to any job for the commandant of a prison camp -- only people who were steadfast supporters and could be counted on to be loyal to the cause. As to her tender age, some of the cruelest women guards were of similar age. I'm not saying this was true of her, but age didn't seem to make much difference. Many of the most rabid Nazis were people who had come up through the Hitler Youth groups.
 
Jews were looked down upon before the Nazis took power. Back when most every country had little concern for racial hatred and many believed strongly in racial superiority. Shall I name some of them?
 
I'll go first. Australia.

When the Nazis came to power most countries of possible refuge already had strict immigration controls, often with the overt or tacit exclusion of Jews. Australia enforced this through the White Australia Policy.
Turned back: Jewish refugees and WWII – Solidarity Online
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Similar policies existed in US and Canada
 

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