This 91 year old Lithuanian man who came to the U.S. in 1950 and has worked all his life in a factory until he retired, is a victim of the Second World War like many others. He was taken prisoner by the Germans from the Lithuanian army, and then “recruited” into Trawniki service. He didn’t volunteer, he wasn’t an officer in charge of anything. It was do as they said or he would have probably been shot. I can’t see why he should be punished at his age, and whatever family he has here in the states also.

You obviously have never picked up a history book….
“I was just following orders” was the “explanation of choice” of many of the Germans during this period from the lowly “Schutze” (private)all the way up to Field Marshal. Remember he was “recruited” which infers that he had a choice. He could just as easily gone over to the resistance side.
I have spent the better part of my 53 years on this planet studying this period of history, and I still haven’t found one “good” reason why people like this shouldn’t be punished regardless of their age.
Granted, in this gentlemens case it is a “hollow” victory because of his age; but a victory nonetheless. One thing is certain… that he lived and enjoyed life a great deal longer than those he helped to persecute.
What scares me most is that once my generation passes that people in the not too distant future will believe that the holocaust never happened (as far too many do today)
My last thought is this…. there is typically no statute of limitations on murder…. in most “civilized” countries..
Just the two cents of an old fart…. and NO I’m not Jewish!

I knew when I posted my opinion I would be jumped on because of empathy for this old man. You didn’t disapoint me. Your opinion is yours, but don’t put me down for not picking up a history book. I lived this history GeeTee. As far as recruiting, it can mean being drafted against your will also. How do you know or anyone else he actually committed a murder? Is there evidence of this?

Certainly few things in history are worse than the Nazi’s treatment of the Jews during World War II. The Halocaust was undoubtedly the biggest crime of the 20th century, and those who participated in it in any way are deserving of punishment. However, as has been pointed out, this man was not a Nazi, but was caught up in self-preservation during one of the most horrific periods of human history. That does not excuse him, but he has lived with what he did for the past 60 plus years, and now, at the age of 91, he has little future ahead of him. I would not deport him, if it were up to me. He has already suffered, I am sure, for his crimes. The blood of those multitudes of Jews who met a terrible death during that time is on his hands, and he will soon face the greatest of all Judges for his part in it.

This man was “recruited” after spending 2 years as a German prisoner of war. Thus he was no longer a prisoner of war, at best, an unpleasant experience, I expect. Who knows if he did what they have accused him of. At this point he wouldn’t admit it, I’m sure. He has probably convinced himself, after all these years, that he didn’t do anything wrong. His name was apparently on a roster of Trawniki men. However his BIG mistake, which worked to keep him in this country, get his citizenship and a good life, was lying to immigration officials when he came from Austria in 1950. It took forever, but it caught up with him. At his age he may not live long enough to be deported,(with appeals etc.) but if he does get sent back, he will have paid a price, late, for whatever he might have done in WWII. He has aleady lost his citizenship.
GeeTee:
I agree that the Holocaust should never be forgotten….by any of the generations to come. What is sad is that genocide is still occuring in different parts of the world.

If you read history books, you will discover that the Nazis punish o one for refusing to harm Jews. They could be punished for helping, but refusing to harm? No.
Zajanckauskas has been able to life for 60 years in comfort and will likely still die in a warm bed.
My family died at the ends of bayonets and Nazi penises (because they raped the women in front of the children, my cousins, before killing all of them) on the streets of Krakow. They aren’t even ashes now. They were obliterated from the face of the earth.
I have no pity for him. Let him suffer in the time he has left and let him suffer in the world to come.

Scott R.
Am so sorry to hear about your family. Even though “they aren’t even ashes now”, they are and will continue to be in your heart.

I have no emotional involvement in this issue in the traditional sense that some others do. Whatever may have been done 65 years ago and the following 25 years of Nazi-hunting are now gone from the consciousness of most of us.
Therefore I see what is taking place; stripping citizenship and the deportation of a 91 year old man on very sketchy evidence as just another excercise in statists arrogance.

The enormity of the Holocaust makes it fairly impossible for us to justly punish it’s perpetrators. And in this case, the man in question is being punished not for his role as a cog in a killing juggernaut but because he lied to an immigration official more than 50 years ago. The case has apparently already drug out for a few years and will, no doubt, drag out for a few more. Most likely the man will die of extreme old age without being shipped back to where he came from. All of which leaves me with a conundrum. What’s the use of engaging in the exercise of attempting to deport him? Who does it serve? Is it worth bothering with?
It is definitely important for good people and, by extension, good governments to take a firm stand against all atrocities. But, even given that, I don’t see any benefit to anyone in this case. The man is shortly to meet the ultimate judgment and I feel certain he cannot hide from that.

And so killing old men who supposedly killed many people that Hitler chose to eliminate; Gays, handicapped, gypsies, Jewish, and who knows what else before and during the WW11 era, seventy or more yrs. ago, is right and proper. There are many who think the death penalty in our country is wrong, the violent deaths of little children by rape, and torture, and others killed because of hate, jealousy, revenge, insanity, and etc. Were their deaths less than the deaths that occured in Germany in the thirties and forties? To lose your loved ones singularly is just as tragic and final as losing them in huge groups. This is the dilemma of all ages, do we answer murder by killing the murderer….In this case he isn’t going to be killed ,at least by us, but who knows who might kill him in his old country he will be sent to if mercy isn’t shown. Yes God is aware of everything, and I feel he’s more understanding then humans could ever be.

Henrietta,
I don’t know if you were responding to my post, but I didn’t call for anyone’s death, neither did I assert that God was going to deal harshly with this man. I was trying to point out that it is beyond us to determine what the appropriate action to take against this man might be. And, while he has hidden his past for a very long time, ultimately, all will be revealed.
I do note that the article doesn’t list any specific accusations against the man. (i.e. he was seen to participate in X.) The fact that he was on a Nazi list of “Trawniki men”is then followed by the fact that he said that “Trawniki men” did certain things in the Warsaw ghetto. Unless I’m missing something here, there was no confession that he did any specific crime beyond lying to immigration. Thus, my questioning of whether or not we can know what is an appropriate punishment in this case.

Henrietta,
Maybe, allow the possibilty, this man, old as he is, needed to be held accountable for what he did as a young man. Not just for the sake of the victims and of society, but for his own sake. Just a thought.

Quote from Henrietta, “And so killing old men who supposedly killed many people that Hiitler chose to eliminate etc.”
This wasn’t about any of these posts, and not yours F.Oregonia at all.
I used the word “men”, not a man. And I was looking at the big picture of how society views murdering, and retribution for crime in the past and comparing it to crimes now. My post was made to make us think, perhaps in ways some haven’t before. It was about these posts, in as much as, outside of one, everyone thought he should be punished in some way. Alicia asked for me to consider this elderly gentlemen should be held accountable for his own sake. I feel this person has had to live with some pretty bad memories whether he caused them or not, and hid his belonging to this group because he was desperate to start over in a country that he felt he would never have to go through what he did in Europe. If he is the only person in America as an immigrant who has lied to the authorities in order to be accepted here I’d be very suprised, as I think most thinking people would be.

I’d honestly rather die than assist someone else in genocide.
Henrietta, where is your “empathy” for Scott R or for others who don’t agree with you? Or does your empathy only apply to people on the same high horse as you?
Isn’t enough that Neo Nazis are protected my freedom of speech and people still make bigoted jokes about Jews and Gypsies and show an absolute lack of knowledge about the Holocaust? What the hell will happen next? SS officers get let off the hook because they are just a bunch of little old toothless men?
Whatever happened to having people take responsibility for their own actions?
Not to mention that just because it happened a long time ago does not mean it is not still fresh in the memories of those who went through it.

No kidding. This guy rapes and murders people, evades the authorities by lying to everyone and we now want to applaud him for his hard work at a factory and successfully reaching old age!?! It does not matter how old a rapist and a murder is…he or she is still a rapist and a murderer.
There are but two unforgivable crimes against humanity.
1. Sexual Violation (Child Molestation and Rape)
2. Murder (Accidental and Self Defense being the only exceptions)
Anyone who commits these atrocities should receive the full brunt of their just rewards. Be it either the death penalty, incarceration, or vengeance at the hands of those they have so grievously wronged.
If the grievously wronged opt for mercy…more power to them. Although it should be their decision…not the decision of a court system that puts people in jail for 2 years for smoking pot, while letting rapists walk free after a couple weeks in county lockup and a little fine.

E.A. I don’t think Henrietta is on any sort of a “high horse”. She is seeing the accused man as a man and offering an additional perspective.
I once heard Sr. Helen Prejean speak and one thing she said has stuck with me. “How would you like to be known only for the worst thing you ever did?” We all would rush to point out that it was an odd thing, unusual circumstance, perhaps out of our control. None of us would say that it was our finest hour and ask folks to please label us with it.
Since this man has flown under the wire for so many decades, he must have been acting within the usual norms of acceptable and legal behavior during that time. I don’t know by what calculus we figure these things out, but that must count for something.

Thank you flakeyOregonian for understanding my words. Your last post made me think of Jesus admonition to a sinner, “You are forgiven, go and sin no more.” The report here in article doesn’t say he ever joined another Neo-Nazi group in the U.S. in the 67 yrs he lived here. So if he ever believed in this he changed his life and worked a modest life in a factory until he retired. As for sympathy for Scott and his family, of course I have sympathy, but I have a mind to reason with as well. So welcome to beliefnet E. Argus, have fun thinking with us.

“I once heard Sr. Helen Prejean speak and one thing she said has stuck with me. “How would you like to be known only for the worst thing you ever did?” We all would rush to point out that it was an odd thing, unusual circumstance, perhaps out of our control. None of us would say that it was our finest hour and ask folks to please label us with it.”
Again, I would rather die than take part in something like that. Besides, I take responsibility for all of my actions. It would be against my beliefs to do anything otherwise. Personal responsibility is the cornerstone of my religion, and I wholeheartedly believe in it.
If I get drunk and drive a car (which I would never do) and end up killing someone I absolutely believe that I deserve to be punished just as much as anyone else, and I do not believe running and hiding would not make me exempt.
There is always a choice.
“Since this man has flown under the wire for so many decades, he must have been acting within the usual norms of acceptable and legal behavior during that time. I don’t know by what calculus we figure these things out, but that must count for something.”
There have been many other criminals that have flown under the wire, but we still hold them accountable for the actions, even if it takes a long time.
Let me ask you both a question. Where do you draw the line? When exactly are people allowed to be exempt for past behaviors?

E. Argus,
You ask where we draw the line on past behaviors. My honest answer is that I do not know. (which was my point earlier.) It would require the wisdom of Solomon to judge a person’s life. I know of no equation that could balance all the various actions, beliefs, mental states, outcomes that add up to someone else’s life. Which is probably why God, in the Judeo-Christian traditions at least, reserves judgment for himself.
So far, this man has only been found guilty of one thing, lying to an immigration official. Given his age and the near impossibility of proving anything after all these years, he most likely will never be found guilty of anything else. Also, given his age and the slowness of appeals in our court system, he most likely will never be deported either. He will die of old age before that happens. He is not currently a danger to society. So, I’m doubtful that there is any useful purpose to the legal proceedings.
As I said previously, this man is on the brink of facing the ultimate judgment, which I believe will be more just than anything that we can mete out here. He isn’t escaping the consequences of anything. None of us ever do.

“It would require the wisdom of Solomon to judge a person’s life.”
The reason we have judges is so someone can do that. Don’t get my wrong, I don’t think all judges are ethical, but it’s not like we’re pulling people off of the street to make these decisions.
“Which is probably why God, in the Judeo-Christian traditions at least, reserves judgment for himself.”
I take it you are of this tradition. If so, would you believe that your God gave everyone enough brains to govern themselves and each other? We have a justice system for a reason.
“So far, this man has only been found guilty of one thing, lying to an immigration official. ”
So why bring up the Trawniki men? With all the illegal immigrants in this country that are a lot younger don’t you think the justice department would have better things to do than to make up allegations of Nazi changes against a 91 year old man if all he did was lie on an immigration form?
I’m going to end this by giving you this link about a SS officer that was caught, he lived “below the radar” as well:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010404/ai_n14379162
“As I said previously, this man is on the brink of facing the ultimate judgment, which I believe will be more just than anything that we can mete out here. He isn’t escaping the consequences of anything. None of us ever do.”
What is the point of having a court system if we’re all just supposed to wait for this “ultimate judgement”?
“No Bob, we’re not going to put anyone in jail, we’ll just wait until they’re dead so a God that not everyone believes in sorts them out!”