At one of the Nazi concentration camps the U.S. Army liberated at the end of World War II, Benjamin Ferencz watched as prisoners caught a Nazi guard, beat him and then shoved him into the same infernal crematorium where untold numbers of Jews and other prisoners had been turned into mounds of ash.
"They slid him in the oven, turned on the heat and took him back out. Beat him again, and put him back in until he was burnt alive,"At the time, Ferencz was a 25-year-old Harvard Law School graduate. The son of Jewish immigrants from Romania, he had enlisted in 1943 and fought at Normandy.
The scope of the wholesale extermination of European Jews was becoming apparent throughout 1945 as Allied forces liberated concentration camps and recorded the horrors for all the world to see. Until then, the genocidal campaign had been the stuff of horrifying rumor that many outside occupied Europe simply could not believe.Ferencz did not intervene as the Nazi guard was shoved back into the crematorium by his former captives.
The Dachau trials of Hitler's willing executioners did not impress the young Harvard Law graduate."I think the average time of trial per defendant was about two minutes,"These were acts of vengeance, not justice, he thought. The executions gave a false sense of closure,:"I felt that it might trivialize the magnitude of the crimes by suggesting that it could be settled, and perhaps then forgotten, by executing a handful of genocidal killers.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ben Ferencz, last living Nuremberg prosecutor of Nazis, diesBen Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials, who tried Nazis for genocidal war crimes and was among the first outside witnesses to document the atrocities of Nazi labor and concentration camps, has died at 103.
Read more »
Nuremberg Trials Prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz Dies at 103Benjamin Ferencz, a pioneering prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials who secured convictions for Nazi death squad commanders, has died at 103 years old.
Read more »
Clarence Thomas Curiously Silent About His Vacation Buddy’s Nazi FetishThe Supreme Court justice has not yet offered an explanation for one of his “dearest friends” keeping a bunch of Nazi memorabilia in his house. Read the latest from besslevin:
Read more »
Ben Affleck's 'Air' Is a Slam Dunk With $20.2 Million at the Domestic Box OfficeBen Affleck’s AIRMovie opens in its first 5 days at the domestic box office with an impressive $20.2 million, outperforming previous projections.
Read more »
Ben Cardin says Biden 'had very bad options' during Afghanistan withdrawalSen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) defended the Biden administration following renewed scrutiny over the United States's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Read more »
Why Jennifer Garner Hasn't Seen the Hilarious Ben Affleck MemesJennifer Garner hasn't seen any of the Sad Ben Affleck memes. 'Although I’m sure he’s quite meme-worthy,' she said.
Read more »