81-year old ex Nazi loses citizenship

[acludem]

Does anyone else have a problem with this? The guy is 81 years old, he's been in the country for over fifty years, what is the point of revoking his citizenship? IMHO, unless they can prove he participated in actually killing or harming anyone, they should leave him the hell alone.

acludem
===================================
Ex-Nazi guard's citizenship revoked



CAMDEN, New Jersey (AP) -- A federal judge has revoked the citizenship of a retired blueberry farmer because of his past as a Nazi guard during World War II.

The Justice Department said Andrew Kuras, 81, of Mays Landing, served as a guard at three concentration camps in the 1940s.

Officials said Kuras concealed his Nazi past when he entered the United States in 1951 and when he became a citizen 11 years later.

The judge entered the court order Tuesday.

"No one who assisted the Nazi regime in its persecution of innocent civilians is entitled to the privilege of United States citizenship," prosecutor Christopher A. Wray said in a statement Wednesday.

In a 2002 interview with the Press of Atlantic City, Kuras said he did not kill or hurt anyone and that he did not remember specific duties he had as a guard.

A Justice Department spokesman said the government had not decided whether to try to have Kuras deported.

Calls placed Wednesday to the office of Kuras' lawyer were not answered.


http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/04/15/nazi.guard.ap/index.html

 

[DKSuddeth]

I have no problem with this whatsoever. He should have been interrogated at the end of ww2 like all the others. If he had been cleared, then fine he could stay. If not, try him like the rest.

 

[NewGuy]

Originally posted by DKSuddeth
I have no problem with this whatsoever. He should have been interrogated at the end of ww2 like all the others. If he had been cleared, then fine he could stay. If not, try him like the rest.

Agreed.

 

[acludem]

So you support guilt by association? Just because someone served in the German army during World War II doesn't mean they were actively participating in the holocaust. If it can be proven that he was participating in the killing of jews or others in concentration camps than fine, otherwise leave the old guy alone.

acludem

 

[DKSuddeth]

Originally posted by acludem
So you support guilt by association? Just because someone served in the German army during World War II doesn't mean they were actively participating in the holocaust. If it can be proven that he was participating in the killing of jews or others in concentration camps than fine, otherwise leave the old guy alone.

acludem

did I say he was guilty? no, I said he should have been interrogated along with the others. only THEN should he have been tried, provided they were able to prove he was involved.

that didn't happen though, he snuck into this country trying to leave his nazi past behind and it finally caught up to him.

 

[acludem]

I don't know if he's guilty. No one seems to know exactly what he did other than serve as a guard, perhaps at a concentration camp. The man in question insists he never hurt or killed anyone, but that he couldn't remember what his specific duties were.

I still think it's a bit ridiculous to go after a bunch of old people for being guards in the 1940s. I stand by what I said before...unless the U.S. Government can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he actually participated in killing or harming people during the war they should leave him alone.

acludem

 

[Aquarian]

there is precedent, at least a recent example:
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1075219844830

I suspect we are far short of details in this case such as evidence that he did or did not hurt anyone during his time as a guard. according to the other case the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 barred people who persecuted others because of their race, religion or national origin from receiving visas, which would bring into question whether citizenship gained without full disclosure of their activities under the nazi's was valid. The cnn article doesn't give any details of the proceedings that led to the judges decision.

On the other hand, and obviously setting the law aside for purposes of discussion, 51 years in the country ought to count for something, a blueberry farmer, retired. how was he viewed in his community? what kind of regrets does he have? I'm one of those who believes in the possibility of rehabilitation, and how he lived his life here should impact his treatment by the justice system. not to say that there should be no punishment, including revoking his citizenship, deporting him to germany for trial, or what not, just that it's not so cut and dried in my eyes.

edit: doh, took too long typing again...

 

[acludem]

It may be that they'll revoke his citizenship but not try and deport him. I absolutely believe that 51 years of good should outweight 2 years of bad (assuming the government can prove he did anything other than stand guard).

acludem

 

[Quad]

there's a difference between joining the german army and serving the fatherland in the SS.

the large majority of those that served in the SS do not have any remorse or regret of their participation in the systematic homocide of non-aryans.

can you hold a 20 year old accountable for joining the SS at the height of the third reich ?

 

[Zhukov]

He should be extradited to Israel for them to determine his culpability, if any, in the slaughter of millions of human beings.

If he is guilty, he should be shot.

 

[acludem]

Who made Israel arbiter of everything having to do with the holocaust? He was given American citizenship in 1951 (only six years after the end of the war). He's been here for 50 years and noone seemed to mind until now. Unless the government can prove that he killed someone (and there have been cases where the government did prove this) then by all means revoke his citizenship. I still don't see the point of punishing an 81 year old man for something he did when he was 20.

acludem

 

[UsaPride]

If he did nothing wrong, then why sneak in?
And not remembering anything about his duties? That's convenient. I know everyones memory is different, but my grandfather can tell me everything he did in WWII. He recently told me about conversations he's had with different people. And this man can't remember his job? In 50 years, he's never discussed his job during WWII with anyone?
Right now, with limited info, I don't have strong feelings either way, but that just struck me wierd.

 

[Zhukov]

Israel is the arbiter of all things 'Holocaust' because that's where most of the relatives of the victims live, where many survivors live (witnesses) and they are the experts at prosecuting German war criminals. If this man is guilty of war crimes, the Israelis will find out. I'll guarantee someone over there is looking into it already.

If he was just a guard, and no one remembers him for being especially cruel or having "special" responsibilities, he has nothing to worry about.