UPDATE, March 20, 2009: Austria frees 'murder pits guard'
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.
...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.
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Eighty-three-year-old Josias Kumpf has lived in the U.S. for more than a half century.
Although he was stripped of his U.S. citizenship in 2003, he fought to stay in the country. He lost that battle. Kumpf has been deported to Austria.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The deportation of Josias Kumpf, 83, who served as an armed guard at a Nazi concentration camp in Germany and a labor camp in Poland, was announced by Rita M. Glavin, acting assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, and John P. Torres, acting assistant secretary of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"Josias Kumpf, by his own admission, stood guard with orders to shoot any surviving prisoners who attempted to escape an SS massacre that left thousands of Jews dead," said Glavin. "His court-ordered removal from the United States of America to Austria is another milestone in the government's long-running effort to ensure that individuals who participated in crimes against humanity do not find sanctuary in this country."
ICE carried out the physical removal of Kumpf to Austria, officials said.
Kumpf was born in Serbia and during the Justice Department's investigation admitted that he participated in the murderous November 1943 Nazi operation known as Operation Harvest Festival in which approximately 42,000 Jewish men, women and children at three camps in eastern Poland were murdered within two days.
He immigrated to the U.S. from Austria in 1956 and became a U.S. citizen in 1964. In 2003 following an investigation by the U.S. and a suit to take away his citizenship, Kumpf's citizenship was revoked for violating a law that says those who have persecuted others are not allowed to enter the U.S. and for obtaining his citizenship under false pretenses.
For most of his 52 years here, Kumpf lived in Chicago, where he worked in a sausage plant. After his wife died in 2002, he moved to Caledonia, where his daughter lives. She had said her father suffers from Parkinson's disease.
Obviously, Kumpf poses no threat to anyone now. It seems cruel to uproot him at his age and in failing health. Nevertheless, a long time ago, he took part in the workings of a concentration camp.
Kumpf claims that he had no choice.
From AP:
In a 2003 interview, Kumpf said he was taken from his home in Yugoslavia as a 17-year-old and forced to serve as a guard, but he didn't participate in any atrocities.
At a 2006 hearing [Peter Rogers, Kumpf's attorney,] described Kumpf as "a gentleman who was involuntarily inscripted into the army, assigned to the SS and then stationed at places where admittedly terrible things happened. My client never took part in them."
But at a subsequent deportation hearing, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich said Kumpf participated in an operation that resulted in the murder of thousands of innocent victims.
"His culpability in this atrocity does not diminish with the passage of time," Friedrich said at the time.
Whether Kumpf actually killed anyone or not probably couldn't be proven now. As far as the argument that he would've been killed if he didn't participate, others have chosen death over selling their souls.
So, the question becomes: Should one be held accountable for acts committed over 60 years ago?
I believe forgiveness is a divine act. Is it our responsibility to act in such a godly fashion and simply forgive Kumpf?
The laws of morality and government are colliding here.
Why kick this ailing old man out of the country he's called home for decades when so little action is taken to remove ILLEGAL immigrants that are engaged in criminal activities now?
It seems harsh and too unforgiving to punish Kumpf for the sins he committed as a teenager.
It's always easy to argue these cases on a very abstract level and with the comfort of detachment. However, I am certain that if a relative of mine had been massacred in a Nazi death camp I would want him out of the country.
11 comments:
Say that to a death camp survivor who had family who died. They had no chance at a long life anywhere. He should never have been allowed here so why should we bend rules just because he is old. Would you let Charles Manson out of jail just because he is 74? I think not. He should suffer for his actions.
It's a tough call.
As I said in my post, I would want to be forgiving for what Kumpf was forced to do as a teenager. BUT, if a relative of mine had been massacred in a Nazi death camp I know I would want him out of the country.
It's different when you have a personal stake in it.
All I have to say is that atrocities have been happening ever since we have been placed on this planet. Pretty much everyone has done something bad to someone else. This eye for an eye thing is barbaric, especially when it is allowed for one set of victims and not another. This is why we criticize Muslims and we are allowing it, though ONLY for certain "atrocities". Not good enough for me.
The guy was a kid and without any evidence, one cannot equate him to Manson who schemed up his own murder plot.
And I agree with Mary, if one had a vested, personal interest in this, you would want a pound of flesh, however, that is not how laws are upheld.
According to the Justice Department, Kumpf admitted to standing guard over a pit where Jews were gunned down and finished off the wounded. His task was to watch for convulsing prisoners and prevent their escape.
"Shameful behavior from the Holocaust crowd which will only garner anger from anybody with a shred of compassion." The Holocaust crowd? You mean Jews, Cyd? Nice to see you're willing to show an ounce of compassion for those of us with family members with numbers tattooed on their arms.
This guy violated US law when he lied to gain access to the country and lied again to gain citizenship. He violated international law by participating in genocide. Eye for an eye? A: nobody is talking about that level of proportionality, and B: there can be no eye for an eye when it comes to genocide.
I see both sides, and I am his granddaughter. I grew up never knowing any of the atrocities, but did know he was involuntarily conscripted to the SS. He did get disciplined for being insubordinate on at least one documented event while serving.
What would you do? 20 of his family members were executed when they returned to Yugoslavia after the war ended. They were not welcome to stay in Germany or Austria because they were neither German or Austrian- and they were dirt poor living in the barracks for 14 years, where my grandmother met my grandfather. They only spoke the same language, but were different in every other way, so they could never be "German". The only safe place for him, his wife and three young children with one on the way was to come as refugees. The Archdiocese of Chicago sponsored them, and knew they were good people. They lived in a Jewish neighborhood and were friends with everyone. He helped his neighbors with their furnaces and lawns, and did handywork to help out-- regardless of their nationality or religious status. My grandparents kept the Mezuzah the previous homeowner had in the doorway. I grew up in a very tolerant household- my family was not proud of being German. My grandfather served 10 months in a Russian camp and nearly died there. His father was taken into a work camp by the Germans to build a railroad. Our family's heart goes out to those who have been vicitms and survivors of the Holocaust. Can't anyone see the vicious cycle just has to stop? Why did the US do nothing about Hitler and wait to be attacked by Japan? I sure wish Bush were president at that time, because none of that would have happened. Doesn't anyone think Josias Kumpf ever had any remorse in his soul?
The Holocaust crowd? You mean Jews, Cyd? Nice to see you're willing to show an ounce of compassion for those of us with family members with numbers tattooed on their arms.
Oh save it, will you? The Holocaust, with its own capital "H" has been beaten to death, and certainly no pun intended. Jews have had more retribution than any other victimized group in history. Armenians were genocided under the Turks to the tune of over 1 million people. No one is willing to stand up for them. Ukranians were genocided under the Leninist thugs to the tune of 3-10 million and very few people know of this atrocity. They were starved to death. No tears there either. My people were under Ottoman rule for over 400 years with deaths and enslavement, yet the official policy is to "put that in the past". And there are countless others. So you'll have to excuse me for being all dried up with compassion when it comes to ANOTHER octogenarian who may have had a hand in an unpleasant war that was unpleasant for EVERYBODY!
This guy violated US law when he lied to gain access to the country and lied again to gain citizenship. He violated international law by participating in genocide. Eye for an eye? A: nobody is talking about that level of proportionality, and B: there can be no eye for an eye when it comes to genocide.
This one guy is the problem, yet we have 12 million Mexican illegals (at the bare minimum and most likely 20-30 million) who violated the same US law and we have heavily Jewish organizations like the ACLU defending THEIR rights and other organizations such as the ADL who do nothing about this. You'll have to forgive me due the stench of hypocrisy is too overwhelming.
As the commenter below your comment states, when will the cycle end? Things were bad, though that is war.
Cyd, if you know anything about legal procedure, if one is EXTRADITED there exists probable cause of a criminal act. In this case, murder. This is quite different than illegal aliens who are living in the United States. Unfortunatley, living illegally in the United States is not actually a crime by statute, but rather an administrative violation.
"It's different when you have a personal stake in it."
No, actually, it's not. Right is right and wrong is wrong no matter who you are in relation to the crime.
I've recently been watching a lot of actual footage and reading statements from people who where there - survivors and members of the Nazi party - and without one family member lost in the Holocaust I can honestly say that I feel no way about this old man being uprooted from the country he escaped to in order to evade the very penalties he was facing back in 1945. Had we not let him in back then, he may very well have already dealt with this. The fact that he was successful in his deception should not sway anything in his favor. Gimme a break!
What a shame that Austria has a statute of limitations on cold-blooded murder...if any crime should NEVER have a statute of limitations it's cold-blooded murder. Especially when it happens "en masse" as it did during the Holocaust.
You say: "Right is right and wrong is wrong no matter who you are in relation to the crime."
I agree that there are absolutes. Right is right and wrong is wrong.
Not everything, however, is that black and white. Our justice system takes that gray area into account -- first degree murder compared to involuntary manslaughter, etc.
Moreover, we're human beings with emotions.
One's connection to a crime does make a difference. I'm going to respond differently to the murder of a loved one than I would to a stranger.
Why do you feels take his side? Do any of you even have any idea what happened in the Holocaust? He merely 'stood guard' while 8000 people died. What is wrong with you people ? IT is you that is morally deficient to want this creature to still walk around in our country.
Kumpf, RAUS! SCHNELL! SCHNELL!
I am definately glad that this nazi is outside of my country. To think that my neighbor could have taken part in the deaths of thousands of innocent men women and children disgusts me.
I couldnt care less if he was "forced" into what he did hes part of the reason why the holocaust occurred in the first place. Hes just like everyone else at the time that just followed blindly
I have a little message to Mr.Kumpf. Our forefathers selflessly gave their lives in the name of freedom and democracy. As you watched and killed those innocent beings, people just like you, tumble into those graves you denied them the most basic rights a human can posess and that is the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Here in America we hold a powerful ideal and that is to put the greater cause of the pursuit of life,liberty and happiness before the lives of ourselves for it is a much, much greater principle. You put your life before the lives of thousands whom hadnt even done wrong, therefore you should not be waving America's flag or holding your hand over your heart singing our national anthem.
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