Nazi of SS

[Bentrovato 1,087]

Interesting BBC documentary on the last of the Third Reich generation.  Former Nazi speaks in new BBC documentary - BBC News           BBC iPlayer - Storyville - Final Account

[Ulitzer95 12,586]

1 hour ago, Bentrovato said:

Interesting BBC documentary on the last of the Third Reich generation.  Former Nazi speaks in new BBC documentary - BBC News           BBC iPlayer - Storyville - Final Account

I really wish the BBC wouldn’t call them “former Nazis”. That isn’t true, they were ppl forced to comply against their will. They were not party members.

 

You phrased it better than they did by calling them “the Third Reich generation”.

[Altroieri 6]

10 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:

I really wish the BBC wouldn’t call them “former Nazis”. That isn’t true, they were ppl forced to comply against their will.

 

It's quite convenient for some to say, well after the fact, "I didn't know" or "I had no choice." Hans Werk, the man labeled "Former Nazi" in the headline in question, does not claim he was forced to comply against his will.

 

The Last of the Hitler Youth Face Their Final Account in Compelling, Disturbing Documentary

Quote

Hans Werk—one of the only interviewees to express deep regret over his complicity—shares that he couldn't wait to join the Hitler Youth. In elementary school, his teacher was a local party operative who "raised us according to the Nazi doctrine." As a young boy, he trusted his teacher more than his own family and later volunteered to be an SS officer. Towards the end of the film, Werk addresses a group of young Germans, begging them not to be as blind as he was at their age. Even as he tries to differentiate between certain people's actions during the war, he stops himself and says, "Actually, they all were perpetrators…I feel like a perpetrator." Like most of his peers, he still has his Hitler Youth card, although he is now ashamed of his Nazi past. But others who held onto their Nazi mementos did so with pride, not shame.

 

[Luca@1996 47]

I recommend watching Luke Holland's documentary "Final Account" from which this scene is taken. Really well done and interesting! I bought the DVD on Amazon.com, but you can easily watch It on Amazon Prime Video

[Luca@1996 47]

The Neuruppin public prosecutor's office is still investigating three suspected Nazi perpetrators.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rbb24.de/politik/beitrag/2022/01/ns-taeter-ermittlungen-ss-kz-sachsenhausen-.htm/alt=amp.html

 

 

 

[Luca@1996 47]

97-year-old Nazi who had worked in the Flossenbürg concentration camp died in October.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.zeit.de/amp/news/2021-10/08/ehemaliger-kz-wachmann-waehrend-ermittlungen-gestorben

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Mel Mermelstein, a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp who, in fulfillment of a sacred promise to his father and the millions of other Jews murdered by the Nazis, took a group of Holocaust deniers to court in the 1980s and won a legal and moral victory in the enduring battle against historical revisionism, died Jan. 28 at his home in Long Beach, Calif. He was 95.

SC

[drol 11,944]

On 26/02/2021 at 17:21, arghton said:

According to wikipedia's list of notable surviving ww2 veterans there are 4 people alive with a wikipedia page who served in the SS.

The only one with an English wikipedia is Gerhard Sommer.

The three others are interesting cases, all Estonian:

 

Raimund Johannes Piirvee (1923-2011) Forester and ecologist. The Estonian wiki for some reason hasn't marked him dead, but he died in Canada in 2011: https://www.marshallwdrivercremationandburialservice.ca/obituary/Raimund-Piirvee

https://www.geni.com/people/Raimund-Johannes-Piirvee/6000000064787412834

 

Hans Ots (1921-2018) Scientist and engineer. Again, the Estonian wiki hasn't marked him dead but he died in Australia in 2018:

https://www.geni.com/people/Hans-Ots/6000000027669742316

 

Ülo Lepik (born 1921) Mathematician and academian. Much more active and alive than the two others, even has a linkedin page and contact info, including his email

 

So actually there are only two.

Ulo Lepik dead at 100.

[Luca@1996 47]

Are there Nazis who worked in Auschwitz still alive in 2022? Maybe just Helma Kissner? (if she is still alive). Also, these names were in the news in 2015:

Charlotte S. (1919)

Gisela S. "Demming" (1923)

Gertrud Elli Schmid (1921)

[arghton 6,716]

I think that more and more names will pop up until they're all dead. Lepik was as far as I know the last living notable SS member for something else than being an SS member and there seem to be very few of those mentioned in this thread who are definitely still alive. 

 

Recap of the findings, deaths, news, etc of the year:

 

Ulo Lepik, Kurt Gosdek, Hilde Michnia, Veikko Kasslin, Wilhelm Karl Friedrich Hoffmeister, Helmut Oberlander, Gerhard Sommer, Alfred Stork and Friedrich Karl Berger are dead. And also Johann Robert Riss, if he's this man: https://www.trauer-im-allgaeu.de/traueranzeige/johann-riss

From the Final Account: Hans Werk, Kurt Sametreiter, Hermann Franz Ferdinand Knoth and Karl Hollander are dead.

 

Helma Maaß/Kissner, Aksel Andersen, Helmut Leif Rasmussen/Rasboel and Harry Paul Fritz Schultz could be dead. As well as the ones mentioned above.

Also not sure about the Final Account SS names Herbert Fuchs, Karl-Heinz Lipok, Otto Duscheleit and Klaus Kleinau. 

 

The ones definitely still alive: Irmgard Furchner, Josef Schutz, Herbert Wahler, Jacob Luitjens and Bruno Dey.

Also two Finnish SS volunteers are still alive, names not known yet.

[Luca@1996 47]

One aspect that baffles me a lot is that the youngest SS guard to have worked in Auschwitz was only 16 in 1945, when the camp was liberated by the Russians. Erich Wenzl, born on 3 June 1928.

 

https://truthaboutcamps.eu/th/form/r1602812568,WENZL-alias-WENZEL-alias-WELTZL-alias-WELZL.html

[Cruyff's Turn 11]

That wasn't unusual towards the end of WW2. As their resources became more depleted they threw in everything they had  so a 16 y/o working in a camp was probably quite common. In the defence of Berlin kids as young as 12 were thrown into the battle. One can only imagine their casualty rates facing the Red Army. Presumably the more savvy ones kept their heads down.

[Luca@1996 47]

New article.

"Nine investigations are currently being conducted in the central office, involving former guards in the Buchenwald, Ravensbrück, Neuengamme and Sachsenhausen concentration camps, but also guards in two prisoner-of-war camps, one of them in Ukraine."

 

https://www.rnz.de/politik/suedwest_artikel,-ludwigsburg-suche-der-nazi-jaeger-neigt-sich-dem-ende-zu-_arid,834775.html

[Ulitzer95 12,586]

27 minutes ago, Luca@1996 said:

New article.

"Nine investigations are currently being conducted in the central office, involving former guards in the Buchenwald, Ravensbrück, Neuengamme and Sachsenhausen concentration camps, but also guards in two prisoner-of-war camps, one of them in Ukraine."

 

https://www.rnz.de/politik/suedwest_artikel,-ludwigsburg-suche-der-nazi-jaeger-neigt-sich-dem-ende-zu-_arid,834775.html

Who's funding this shite? Presumably the German tax payer?

WWII ended 77 years ago. The youngest any of these alleged perpetrators can be is now 95. Most are in fact older. In many instances they die before or during the proceedings of their trial. Complete waste of time, money and resources, that could be used to concentrate on modern day scumbags who are currently out there committing crimes and harming people.

[Luca@1996 47]

14 minutes ago, Ulitzer95 said:

Chi finanzia questa merda? Presumibilmente il contribuente tedesco?

La seconda guerra mondiale finì 77 anni fa. Il più giovane di questi presunti colpevoli può essere ora 95. La maggior parte sono infatti più anziani. In molti casi muoiono prima o durante il procedimento del loro processo. Perdita completa di tempo, denaro e risorse, che potrebbero essere utilizzati per concentrarsi sugli stronzi dei giorni nostri che sono attualmente là fuori a commettere crimini e danneggiare le persone.

With the spread of conspiracy theories, denial etc. (of all kinds), in my opinion these processes help to bring the facts to people's attention. In a short time, victims and torturers will no longer be there and it will be up to us to carry on the memory of these events. My great-grandparents were deported to Buchenwald and Ravensbrück, and frankly, I am glad to know that in 2022, 77 years later, some of the Nazis who forced them into such non-life are brought to trial, despite their age. Time and money wasted now, you say? In my opinion that's a lot of time and money saved in 77 years and now it's worth it.

[arghton 6,716]

20 minutes ago, Ulitzer95 said:

WWII ended 77 years ago. The youngest any of these alleged perpetrators can be is now 95. Most are in fact older. In many instances they die before or during the proceedings of their trial. Complete waste of time, money and resources, that could be used to concentrate on modern day scumbags who are currently out there committing crimes and harming people.

And all the commanders are dead. Lots of them likely died free, abroad. Many of these people they're now jailing are people who were forced to follow orders. Probably all or nearly all of the SS members, veterans who were later neonazis are also now dead. Seems very odd to jail centenarians who were ordered to commit crimes over 75 years ago in a world where scumbags like Joseph Kony, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mengistu Haile Mariam and many, many others walk free.

[Luca@1996 47]

16 minutes ago, arghton said:

And all the commanders are dead. Lots of them likely died free, abroad. Many of these people they're now jailing are people who were forced to follow orders. Probably all or nearly all of the SS members, veterans who were later neonazis are also now dead. Seems very odd to jail centenarians who were ordered to commit crimes over 75 years ago in a world where scumbags like Joseph Kony, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mengistu Haile Mariam and many, many others walk free.

I agree with you, talking about prison is really pointless. I would prefer that they perform socially useful services. For example, tell their experiences to students in schools (as Hans Werk did). Even via video. As several survivors had requested during the trial against Reinhold Hanning for example. I disagree that many people have been "forced" to work in concentration camps, to follow orders etc. Some certainly were against it and were forced to do so, but most were absolutely consenting. See the recent case of Josef Schütz, just to name one.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Old newspaper repro I found.  Amusing enough…we are sports-centric in America, everything requires a box score, including Nazis.

 

 

[Luca@1996 47]

Leon Schwarzbaum, a Holocaust survivor and defender of the memory of Nazi crimes during World War II, died yesterday at the age of 101.

 "Leon Schwarzbaum died Sunday night. His death is a great loss to the collective memory. We will miss his humanity," Christoph Heubner, executive vice president of the Auschwitz International Committee, told to AFP.

In late 2021, Leon also witnessed the trial of 101-year-old former Sachsenhausen concentration camp guard Josef Schütz. This week he was due to attend a further hearing in that trial, Thomas Walther, a Nazi war crimes attorney, told to AFP. In a written statement to be read by Walther, Schwarzbaum had planned to ask the accused to "tell us the historical truth". "Talk here in this place about what you experienced," he wrote.

[gcreptile 10,967]

On 04/12/2020 at 22:43, gcreptile said:

Prominent Holocaust denier Ursula Haverbeck again in court, at 92:

https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/ursula-haverbeck-so-begruendet-der-richter-das-urteil-gegen-die-holocaustleugnerin-a-d0947de7-972e-4bca-900c-c0081909cd12

Ursula Haverbeck again in court, again, now 93 years old:

https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/ursula-haverbeck-die-93-jaehrige-die-den-holocaust-leugnet-und-nichts-dazulernt-a-059bcf20-e732-4fdb-af62-994b45f67228

[Luca@1996 47]

"Sachsenhausen process: Lawyer requests questioning of former SS men.
The trial of an SS guard at Sachsenhausen concentration camp is coming to the end.  However, the defendant's defense attorney requested that new witnesses be heard: he wants to interview FIVE former SS men." 

 

https://www.evangelisch.de/inhalte/198976/24-03-2022/sachsenhausen-prozess-anwalt-beantragt-vernehmung-frueherer-ss-maenner

[Luca@1996 47]

On 18/03/2022 at 21:44, gcreptile said:

Ursula Haverbeck again in court, again, now 93 years old:

https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/ursula-haverbeck-die-93-jaehrige-die-den-holocaust-leugnet-und-nichts-dazulernt-a-059bcf20-e732-4fdb-af62-994b45f67228

Haverbeck fails appeal: prison sentence

https://www.stern.de/gesellschaft/regional/prozess-holocaust-leugnerin-scheitert-mit-berufung--gefaengnisstrafe-31750924.html

[Luca@1996 47]

Former SS guard Bruno Dey will be heard in the trial of Irmgard Furchner next week.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.abendblatt.de/region/pinneberg/article235062643/Irmgard-F-ist-weiter-krank-KZ-Prozess-faellt-erneut-aus.html%3fservice=amp

[Luca@1996 47]

"The last remaining Nazi criminals still alive must be judged. Now, for the first time, the camp guards are in the center of attention of the judicial authorities.

A total of eleven concentration camp and prison camp guards are currently being investigated.

Eight Nazi cases are currently pending. These people are between 96 and 99 years old. All the cases involve complicity in murder. However, no charges have been filed yet. 

The Erfurt Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating a former Buchenwald concentration camp guard, the Hamburg prosecutor's office against a former Neuengamme concentration camp guard, the Neuruppin prosecutor's office against a former Sachsenhausen concentration camp guard and against two former guards and the Ravensbrück concentration camp.

Proceedings are also pending in the Berlin public prosecutor's office against a former guard from the Stalag 365 prison camp Vladimir-Wolynsk, at the Dortmund public prosecutor's office against a former guard from the Stalag 358 prison camp and at the Celle prosecutor's office against a former guard from the Stalag IB Hohenstein prison camp.

There are also three preliminary investigations conducted by the Central Office for Investigating Nazi Crimes: one for the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, one for the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp and one for the Stalag III C prison camp Alt-Drewitz."

 

https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article238193815/Lager-Wachmaenner-Staatsanwaltschaften-ermitteln-bundesweit-gegen-NS-Verbrecher.html

[Luca@1996 47]

Johannes Rehbogen (1923 - 2019)

Two photos of him wearing the uniform.