Okskar Groening

[Pasithea]

Was it not wrong for him to be put on trial and convicted, I know he will probably not serve the sentence. However surely he and his comrades where victims too. Surely if he had not carried out their orders he would have been sentenced to death .

I fail to understand why someone as lowly as a bookeeper has been put through such an expensive court time consuming trial

[TheTravellingLemon]

I find I am very conflicted about this. I think where I fall is that if he was going to be tried, it should have been done in the seventies when he was originally investigated.

I feel like he was found guilty of horrific crimes, but at the age of 94, what can really happen? I think he was probably too old to stand and 4 years is hardly justice for the victims and families so it all feels sort of pointless.

I can't see how anyone connected on either side would feel there was any good outcome.

[downgraded]

Radio 2 this morning called him "the bookmaker of Auschwitz". Fucking dolts.

I'm glad he faced trial. He said himself he was morally culpable. There shouldn't be a statute of limitations on 300,000 lives.

One man at the court had lost 30 members of his family.

[ICanTuckMyBoobsInMyPockets]

Didn't they say 'bookkeeper', because he counted the money?

[downgraded]

Yes, he was known as the bookkeeper of Auschwitz. Not the bookmaker.

Slightly different...

[cdtaylornats]

He joined the SS, he wasn't drafted - he knew what was happening. If he had felt badly he could easily have got transferred to a line battalion.

[SwedishEdith]

Just saw Eva Kor on BBC news - Auschwitz survivor of Mengele. Incredibly impressive when talking about him. He would be much more useful talking to young people about what he did/saw.

[CherryBonBon]

Hmmm. I did feel quite shocked when I saw him being helped to his chair but ultimately I believe it was the right thing to try him.

Age doesn't absolve you from guilt and culpability. According to the article I read, his conviction has given some closure to the families of the victims. It is the right thing. He should have spent far more of his life in prison.

[BarbarianMum]

I think justice was done. The organisation he joined killed people of all ages - from babies to the very elderly - and he a cog in that machine. I do accept that the person he is now is very different from the person who he was then and I admire his courage in standing up to holocaust deniers (although at the same time it is the very least he could do).

[SunHighInTheSky]

Eva Kor had it right.

The pressing issue now is that some refuse to believe the victims' testimonies; this man would be more useful telling his story than being behind bars.