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I think the term “volunteered” for the SS is a bit, lost in translation.

rsynnott 2y ago
The SS was, generally, a volunteer thing; they did not conscript for the SS proper. The Wehrmacht was, at least by the period we're concerned with here, a conscript army, but the SS wasn't.
- wakawaka28 2y ago
  Not to defend any particular case but I think it is easy to see that there must have been a time when the volunteers had no idea what they were in for, and that after they were in too deep they might have feared for their lives. Many of them probably had no idea what atrocities were going on in the name of their country. So, I think you need to judge people on a case-by-case basis when it comes to alleged war crimes. The same goes for people who join political parties in countries where it is a virtual prerequisite to any kind of professional work. Not only may they be unaware of the bad deeds of the party, but they may have concluded that they could do nothing about the party's actions anyway.
  - tptacek 2y ago
    He didn't just volunteer; he volunteered for the SS-TV. Read up about what that unit was about. He had opportunities to stop what he was doing; he didn't take them.
  - TheCoelacanth 2y ago
    There was never a time when people had to fear for their life for not wanting to work at a concentration camp. It was a volunteer assignment. Transferring to a different assignment would lead to a loss of status, but not serious punishment.
deleted 2y ago
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tptacek 2y ago
He volunteered.
RIMR 2y ago
You could read the article if you want to. It says that he voluntarily joined the SS Totenkopf division, committed atrocities at a concentration camp, and he openly stated that is biggest/only regret was that Germany lost the war...
- tptacek 2y ago
  Point of order: it was never demonstrated that he directly committed atrocities at Gross-Rosen or Mauthausen (where he was never stationed). Of course, his work guarding prisoners there enabled those atrocities, as both the courts considering his case immediately pointed out.† He didn't say Germany losing was his "only" regret and he didn't say that openly --- he said that in a private session with the OPRF school board (the only citation we have for it --- I have no doubt he said it, given what his son Rainer wrote in our local newspaper at the time --- is an interview Soffer did with one of the school board members). He was not an out-and-proud Nazi or a public advocate for Germany. (To be clear: I think his case was handled properly by the authorities, and OPRF's protection of him after they discovered his Nazi past was not good.) † Ironically, his combat service on the Eastern Front has more problematic documentation; he got a commendation for his involvement in the capture of 250 Soviet soldiers, and it's tacitly understood that those soldiers were then killed.

The SS was, generally, a volunteer thing; they did not conscript for the SS proper. The Wehrmacht was, at least by the period we're concerned with here, a conscript army, but the SS wasn't.

wakawaka28 2y ago
Not to defend any particular case but I think it is easy to see that there must have been a time when the volunteers had no idea what they were in for, and that after they were in too deep they might have feared for their lives. Many of them probably had no idea what atrocities were going on in the name of their country. So, I think you need to judge people on a case-by-case basis when it comes to alleged war crimes. The same goes for people who join political parties in countries where it is a virtual prerequisite to any kind of professional work. Not only may they be unaware of the bad deeds of the party, but they may have concluded that they could do nothing about the party's actions anyway.
- tptacek 2y ago
  He didn't just volunteer; he volunteered for the SS-TV. Read up about what that unit was about. He had opportunities to stop what he was doing; he didn't take them.
- TheCoelacanth 2y ago
  There was never a time when people had to fear for their life for not wanting to work at a concentration camp. It was a volunteer assignment. Transferring to a different assignment would lead to a loss of status, but not serious punishment.

deleted 2y ago

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tptacek 2y ago

He volunteered.

RIMR 2y ago

You could read the article if you want to. It says that he voluntarily joined the SS Totenkopf division, committed atrocities at a concentration camp, and he openly stated that is biggest/only regret was that Germany lost the war...

tptacek 2y ago
Point of order: it was never demonstrated that he directly committed atrocities at Gross-Rosen or Mauthausen (where he was never stationed). Of course, his work guarding prisoners there enabled those atrocities, as both the courts considering his case immediately pointed out.† He didn't say Germany losing was his "only" regret and he didn't say that openly --- he said that in a private session with the OPRF school board (the only citation we have for it --- I have no doubt he said it, given what his son Rainer wrote in our local newspaper at the time --- is an interview Soffer did with one of the school board members). He was not an out-and-proud Nazi or a public advocate for Germany. (To be clear: I think his case was handled properly by the authorities, and OPRF's protection of him after they discovered his Nazi past was not good.) † Ironically, his combat service on the Eastern Front has more problematic documentation; he got a commendation for his involvement in the capture of 250 Soviet soldiers, and it's tacitly understood that those soldiers were then killed.