Saturday, March 21, 2009

Josias Kumpf: Free Man in Austria

From the BBC:

A former SS man alleged to have taken part in the extermination of 8,000 Jews in one day has been freed by Austria, a day after being extradited from the US.

The Austrian justice ministry said the former guard, 83-year-old Josias Kumpf, could not be put on trial because the statute of limitations had expired.

The US says he acted in the killing and burial in pits of Jewish interns at the Trawniki camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

...Austrian justice ministry spokeswoman Katharina Swoboda said Vienna had warned the US that Mr Kumpf would not be prosecuted in Austria because the statute of limitations relating to his crimes had expired in 1965.

"We have always pointed out to the United States that he cannot be charged here with the crimes of which he is accused," she said.

Kumpf isn't going to be charged with any crimes. He's a free man. Austria made it clear all along that he wouldn't be prosecuted.

Apparently, being forced to leave the U.S. is the full extent of Kumpf's punishment.

1 comment:

UNRR said...

This post has been linked for the HOT5 Daily 3/21/2009, at The Unreligious Right