Jewish
'political prisoners' at Sachsenhausen concentration camp
in
Poland, 1938: One of their tormentors, Josias Kumpf, now walks
free
in Austria after being deported by the United States.
Neues Deutschland,
Germany
Deported By U.S.,
Accused Nazi Gets Royal Treatment
"Too
bad for fellow Nazi collaborator John Demjanjuk that he landed in Munich rather
than Vienna ... a charity organization has transported Josias Kumpf to Vienna
and quartered the suspected Nazi murderer in a high-end apartment in Döbling -
with a rent of €1000 a month and 24-hour care."
By René Heilig
Translated By
Jonathan Lobsien
July 17, 2009
Germany - Neues Deutschland - Original
Article (German)
Over the past three decades,
U.S. authorities have deported 107 former Nazi war criminals. The latest is
Ivan [John] Demjanjuk. The Nazi collaborator has been charged with being an
accomplice in 27,900 cases of murder. Too bad for him that he landed in Munich
rather than Vienna ...
The scandal began on April 3
with a phone call to the office of social assistance in the Austrian province
of Vorarlberg. Someone inquired about welfare for a man by the name of Josias
Kumpf who had just returned home from the United States. The officials did some
research and hastily informed the regional director for domestic security,
Elmar Marent.
However, he noted that
neither "penal nor administrative grounds" exist to "warrant police
action." According to Marent, under Austrian law, the fact that he is a
presumed mass murderer is barred from consideration under Austria's statute of limitations. Moreover,
Kumpf was still a minor at the time, initially 17 or 18 years old. The Serbian-born
Kumpf - like Demjanjuk - is reported to have stood in the ranks of the SS as a
so-called Trawniki-man [The Polish city of Trawniki is where guards were trained
for Operation
Reinhard - the annihilation of Poland's Jews]. For example, at the
concentration camp in Sachsenhausen. Kumpf is accused of crimes in Poland and
France, as well as Trawniki itself. He's reported to have been involved in the
executions of 8,000 men, women, and children. When questioned by U.S.
interrogators, he confessed that he, "kept watch to make sure that those
who weren't completely dead or were still twitching didn't climb out of the
pit."
Kumpf lived for weeks in a
home in Lochau on Lake Constance. Then on April 24, Kumpf’s relative parked the
83-year-old in a wheelchair in front of the Bregenz regional hospital. In need
of care, Kumpf was treated and transferred to Rankweil on May 18. Then on the
night of June 6, Caritas [a charity organization] transported Kumpf to Vienna
and quartered the suspected murderer in a high-end apartment in Döbling [a
prosperous area of the city] - with a rent of €1000 [$1400] a month and 24-hour
care.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
Johannes Rauch, chairman of the
Green Party in Vorarlberg, continues to be shocked: yesterday he told Neues
Deutschland that this may be a matter of scandal on a variety of levels. His first
charge is that Kumpf can move about the country unobserved and with complete
freedom, shedding significant light on Austria’s handling of Nazi criminals and
its observance of a statute of limitations on their crimes. This "slimy
winking and sweeping under the rug of associations" with Austria’s Nazi
past is, according to Rauch, partly responsible for the "new right being
so strong in our republic." Secondly, it is unacceptable that neither the
federal nor provincial governments saw any reason to keep the public informed
about Kumpf. Third, anyone who compares such exquisite treatment of a suspected
Nazi criminal to the everyday lives of those seeking asylum find cause for
further outrage. In the case of the immigrants, they get pushed into an asylum
and are deported as quickly as possible.
SEE ALSO ON THIS:
The Times, U.K.:
Austria Sets Free Nazi Guard Deported By U.S.
Financial Times Deutschland:
Trial of Alleged Nazi Demjanjuk a Chance for German 'Redemption'
So will Kumpf continue without
being charged? If it's left up to the Austrian authorities, the answer is yes.
But there are other possibilities for bringing the SS collaborator to justice.
In Spain, Nazi camp survivors have pressed charges against four former
concentration camp overseers. Although their crimes didn't occur in Spain, a
Madrid court allowed the charges. In the concentration camps at Mauthausen,
Sachsenhausen and Flossenbürg alone, where Anton Tittjung, Josias Kumpf and
Johann Leprich presided as guards alongside Demjanjuk, at least 4,300 Spanish
prisoners died. Thus Judge Moreno has established jurisdiction for Spanish
justice and has allowed the proceedings to move forward.
And there may be another
alternative for bringing Kumpf to trial. According to the "Scene of the
Crime Principle:" Sachsenhausen is located in Brandenburg. If Kumpf took
part in any crimes there, the office of the public prosecutor in Neuruppin
would be responsible. And whatever they may unearth during an intensive
investigation could reveal enough for an indictment similar to the one lodged
against Demjanjuk.
CLICK HERE FOR GERMAN VERSION
[Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US July 28, 8:20pm]
