by Brean Schell

Created on: April 22, 2009

When is a murder forgivable? At what point can we accept that punishment for a crime is not valid?
Wether a person lives a 'good life' (assuming they have been a law abiding citizen) or not should not be a factor in deciding wether or not they should be punished for past crimes. There are many law abiding citizens in the world today that have never committed a crime, should we, by a similar standard, forgive them if they murder someone next week? No, a crime is committed, and it calls for punishment.

A murder is a murder, just as genocide is genocide, no matter how long ago it happened. Should contemporary international law enforcement agencies attempt to bring former Nazis to justice? Yes, if for nothing other than to attempt to build a complete picture of what happened in Germany, in concentration camps and in forced labour camps. We, a a global community, owe it to our predecessors and to future generations, to do everything we can to bring criminals to justice.

Does anyone really believe that people like Doctor Aribert Heim should remain free and in possession of his personal fortune? Heim was a key figure in medical experimentation carried out on those held in concentration camps, one of which was to determine the cheapest and fastest acting poison with which to kill inmates. Despite calls that it has been too long, or that these people are too old to punish, do we want murderers free in any society? If Charles Manson hadn't been caught until he was 85, would we still call for his trial? Yes, because it closes the file for loved ones and survivors.

There are still survivors of the Nazi concentration camps and labour camps around the world who have not seen justice for themselves or for their loved ones, who are we to deny them their right to recompense? A wrong has been committed, and as much as we can, we are obliged to right that wrong in any way we can, be it bringing former Nazis to justice or documenting the history of the era so that future generations may know the horror of what took place.

Communities and towns were decimated in the name of 'racial purification' and have never recovered, and never will. Families were destroyed, artwork, literature, film, music and archaeological finds were stolen, destroyed or bastardized. If ever this were to happen again, do we want a precedent to have been set by us as a global community, that we didn't brig the perpertrators to justice? Never should a movement as violent and depraved as the Nazis have an excuse to escape rightful punishment.

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