# Isn't It Time to Quit Hunting World War II Nazis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 24, 2014, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909 "2014-07-24T06:03:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/1 "2014-07-24T06:03:40Z")
"German efforts to prosecute aging war criminals suffered a setback this week with the death of a retired Philadelphia toolmaker who had long been in the crosshairs of Nazi hunters. Bavarian prosecutors had hoped to extradite 89-year-old Johann “Hans” Breyer over his alleged service as a Waffen SS guard at Auschwitz in 1944." [http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/Suspected-Nazi-guard-s-death-a-blow-to-prosecutors-5642876.php](http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/Suspected-Nazi-guard-s-death-a-blow-to-prosecutors-5642876.php) 70 Years Ago? I just think that with all the crime and violence in the world that there are much higher priorities. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/2 "2014-07-24T06:09:25Z")
As far as I concerned, they can literally hound them into the grave. Why should they have a moment of peace? I will concede that as a practical matter, old age is killing off any Nazis who have escaped capture. I can see the point of calling off the search for people who are presumed dead. But I wouldn’t call off the pursuit just because they’re old. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/3 "2014-07-24T06:22:07Z")
There’s no statute of limitations on murder, let alone mass murder, genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. There may be something tragicomic about putting nonagenarians in the dock, but the fact remains: these are some of the most evil people in human history. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/4 "2014-07-24T06:29:00Z")
IMO I think they need to bring good evidence that he had awareness or involvement in war crimes _before_ the extradition. I don’t think just seeing him on the roster is enough at this point. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/5 "2014-07-24T06:45:19Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > 70 Years Ago? I just think that with all the crime and violence in the world that there are much higher priorities. No. Fuck 'em and fuck the god that they worship and fuck the god that created them. And as far as all the “crime and violence” you whine about, if anyone got away with that today, may they be nailed 70 years from now (or, hopefully sooner) with the consequences of it. It’s tenacity that deters/punishes such inhumane acts. Sorry, but I do have to question your ethics! ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/6 "2014-07-24T06:52:09Z")
> [@OP](#): > > 70 Years Ago? I just think that with all the crime and violence in the world that there are much higher priorities. I’m not aware that Barvaria is so swamped in crime and violence that they can’t pursue other priorities. > [@Mijin](#): > > IMO I think they need to bring good evidence that he had awareness or involvement in war crimes _before_ the extradition. I don’t think just seeing him on the roster is enough at this point. Yea. I don’t have any problem in general with going after geriatric Nazi’s, but I’m uncomfortable trying people (Nazi or otherwise) long after their alleged crimes simply because its pretty difficult to mount a defense when most or all of the witnesses that could’ve backed up your story are dead (and in all likleyhood, your own memory isn’t so hot either). In such cases the standard of evidence to convict should be really high. In Breyer’s case, the paperwork contradicting his story has several errors. And anyone that could back him up or contradict his story is decades in the grave. So I don’t think he should’ve been extradited. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/7 "2014-07-24T07:28:02Z")
No. Fuck no. > [@PastTense](#): > > Bavarian prosecutors had hoped to extradite 89-year-old Johann “Hans” Breyer over his alleged service as a Waffen SS guard at Auschwitz in 1944." I’ll have to cut you the benefit of the doubt and assume you have absolutely no idea what went on at Auschwitz 70 years ago. 1,100,000 people were murdered there by the Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/8 "2014-07-24T11:01:58Z")
No. I believe in getting the bastards. Same goes for any and all genociders. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/9 "2014-07-24T14:09:55Z")
I dunno. I kinda like the argument that “we shouldn’t waste time on \_\_\_\_\_\_, because \_\_\_\_\_\_ is such a higher priority.” Because, you know, community efforts have only one queue and everyone has the same priorities. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/10 "2014-07-24T14:22:36Z")
War criminals should feel the heat of pursuit to their dying days. The moribund ones should die in custody. None of this “it was so long ago, let’s not bother”. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/11 "2014-07-24T14:43:43Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > No. Fuck no.I’ll have to cut you the benefit of the doubt and assume you have absolutely no idea what went on at Auschwitz 70 years ago. 1,100,000 people were murdered there by the Nazis. The problem is that for the last 20 years or so, they went mostly after suspected underlings who happen to have survived, while the very obvious big fish got away with some years in jail at worst and in general scot free to have good and respectable careers after WW2. The extensive cleaning should have taken place back then. For instance a guy who might or might not have been someone who chose to guard an extermination camp rather than starving to death in a Russian PoW camp, was hunted for years. While his probably perfectly identifiable enlisted boss ended his life as a respected grocer, his volunteer boss’ boss as a wealthy professional, and his enthusiastic nazi boss’ boss’ boss as a decorated high ranking civil servant. Hunting these guys is an afterthought coming way too late, while nothing was done when it could have been. They’re only systematically hunted now because it won’t bother anybody to go after a lone nobody (as opposed to prosecuting tens of thousands of important people 30-40 years ago). The less high-ranking criminals were left, the stricter and more merciless the hunt became. Because god forbid that it could cause any trouble. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/12 "2014-07-24T14:53:40Z")
How anyone could read the history of Nazi Germany for five minutes and think the world should stop hunting them is beyond me. 80 million dead in world war two. The Nazi atrocities that still are chilling 75 years later. Pursue every last one of them. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/13 "2014-07-24T14:54:46Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Hunting these guys is an afterthought coming way too late, while nothing was done when it could have been. That’s all arguably the case when it comes to nations. No country has ever really dedicated its resources to finding Nazis and bringing them to justice. Because they had other priorities like, I dunno, running a country. On the other hand, Simon Wiesenthal founded the Jewish Documentation Centre in _1947_. In part due to its efforts, and his, some [40,000 Nazis](http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=idAmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sQIGAAAAIBAJ&pg=849,3320602&dq=jewish+documentation+center&hl=en)had been tracked down and brought to justice between the end of the war and 1983. Could more have been done sooner? Of course. Has the tally dropped dramatically since the 1980s? Also of course. But to say “nothing was done” is way off base. . ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/14 "2014-07-24T15:16:03Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > How anyone could read the history of Nazi Germany for five minutes and think the world should stop hunting them is beyond me.[…] Pursue every last one of them. …into the next realm. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/15 "2014-07-24T15:45:21Z")
The people hunting former concentration camp guards and such are interested in that, I doubt they’ll shift their focus to child molesters and child support dead beats when the last of them die of old age. The dead deserve justice, if a researcher goes to law enforcement with tangible evidence the case should be prosecuted with the expedience of any other crime. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/16 "2014-07-24T16:25:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As far as I concerned, they can literally hound them into the grave. Why should they have a moment of peace? > > I will concede that as a practical matter, old age is killing off any Nazis who have escaped capture. I can see the point of calling off the search for people who are presumed dead. But I wouldn’t call off the pursuit just because they’re old. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/17 "2014-07-24T16:45:15Z")
Are they all dead? That’s when it will be time to quit hunting them. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/18 "2014-07-24T16:46:06Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Are they all dead? That’s when it will be time to quit hunting them. So in about 2 years? 4-5 tops. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/19 "2014-07-24T18:38:25Z")
Its not like the Germans have a hundred men working on these cases. Much of the investigative work is done by private citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909/20 "2014-07-24T18:44:32Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > It’s tenacity that deters/punishes such inhumane acts. Cite that tracking down and indicting nonagenarians for acts they are accused of committing seventy years ago actually has any significant deterrent effect on genocidal activities? I agree that war crimes in general should be vigorously prosecuted as soon as possible, and I agree there’s a case to be made for hounding the architects and ringleaders of such crimes to their dying breath, however long it takes. But if we’re talking about extradition and trial of some elderly invalid solely on the grounds that as a kid of 18 nearly three-quarters of a century ago he might or might not have been a concentration-camp guard and in that alleged capacity he might or might not have assisted in carrying out acts of mass murder or other atrocities, I don’t really see how that’s such a victory for the forces of justice. Especially if no conclusive testimony or other evidence from that period is available. I think **clairobscur** is right that at this point, official “Nazi hunting” activities focused on suspected underlings and menials of Nazi atrocities are largely political theater designed to project an image of righteous relentlessness that the treatment of more high-ranking suspects over the past several decades didn’t always support. For private individuals who continue to act as volunteer Nazi hunters, it’s probably more of an ongoing personal mission or sacred cause. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-time-to-quit-hunting-world-war-ii-nazis/693909.md?page=2)