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Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees
I put it to you it makes a hell of a lot of difference, it's very easy for you to sit in an ivory tower and pontificate and cast judgement. I suspect if you were placed in the same situation it would sharp change.
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I am not casting judgement upon him as a person but saying he is responsible for his part in the running the camp. There is a disconnect here where you think just because you can understand his motivations and, in the same situation, would do the same thing means he isn't culpable.
Very few people would have known what they were getting into. This isn't a film where people woke up with evil intent but they still ended up doing evil things.
The Times has better reporting of this including the part where he did occasional guard duty on those that arrived and the Judge's statement:
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“Naturally this period was coloured by the ideology of the time, the Jews were presented as a danger to Germany, but this did not prevent you thinking about things,” the judge said, again addressing Groening directly.
“The war was going well and you did not want to stand on the sidelines. You wanted to be part of it. That is a decision that you made,” he said.
“You said yourself, you wanted to be part of this dashing group, the SS, you wanted to wear this uniform. You voluntarily applied.”
When Groening learned of the death of his brother at the front, the judge noted that he decided to stick to his safe office job at Auschwitz.
“I do not want to say you are a coward but you opted for a white collar job at a desk which ensured a secure position,” the judge said, causing Groening to look to the ceiling and blink rapidly before regaining his composure.
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