Homes raided in connection with 1944 German massacre

[TP Alexander]

Yeah, I know. The headline says NAZI massacre. I can't bring myself to post that.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/po...ssacre-n506761

[JanC]

Wow...suspected membership of the 12 SS Pz Div...

Is it a crime to have served in a elite division/ unit? I don't understand why they Always put "nazi" in such articles... Massacres are of all times. Maybe it's only called a crime when Germans did it...

Anyway I don't think it's necessary to prosecute persons who committed things that happened 70 years ago

[ironcross13]

Think the Police need to find something better to do with there time and leave these 90 year old men alone. says they took any docs or notes they had from the war

[Freiwillige1813]

Merkel's regime obviously more concerned with persecuting 90 year olds than with handling the Rape-ugee crisis. This is today's world.

[paulruss]

Sad

[Pierre]

I don't understand why they Always put "nazi" in such articles...

With "nazi" it always sells better.

Pierre

[Gran Sasso]

In a big german newspaper they could not even get the timeframe right, the Invasion was there in 1943...

[chrischa]

In a big german newspaper they could not even get the timeframe right, the Invasion was there in 1943...

It wasn't an invasion it was a liberation.

[ironcross13]

In a big german newspaper they could not even get the timeframe right, the Invasion was there in 1943...

Seems alot of German Paper don't report much. Maybe stories like these are to take the headlines from other problems in the country.

[Lloyd I.]

Ascq was quite a big deal and there is great information on this massacre by George Bernage in Heimdal. Simply being a member of 12th SS-HJ however would not qualify unless the 'investigators' are using old war crimes investigation files. There were many incidents that were simply not pursued by war crimes branch when they folded. Many individuals were named often by PWs in these interrogation files such as the PWs shot at Gerd Bremers HQ. The individuals involved were named in those interrogation reports but not pursued in favor of a policy of going after commanding officers. Interesting policy.

It is a bit shocking to read given all the other problems in Germany right now. Very one sided when you consider there is never a prosecution of those accused of war crimes on the Allied side. If justice is truly blind what of the massacre of say members of 17th SS and on and on.

Ridiculous.

[chrischa]

Think the Police need to find something better to do with there time and leave these 90 year old men alone. says they took any docs or notes they had from the war

Would you still have this view if it was knocklein or Mohnke bought to justice for killing hundreds of British troops after surrender?

A young **** will become an old **** given time.

[chrischa]

I must add, immigrants entering a country has little bearing on a criminal investigation.

Do members really believe Germany or any European country is so over run that no other investigation can take place?! It's **** but not quite as bad as Trump is portraying.

[JanC]

Would you still have this view if it was knocklein or Mohnke bought to justice for killing hundreds of British troops after surrender?

A young **** will become an old **** given time.

Already read "Verbrechen an die Wehrmacht"? Same thing but the other side around... Those things happen at war. But it is criminal after all for both sides, not only for "nazis"

[Willi Z.]

Seems alot of German Paper don't report much. Maybe stories like these are to take the headlines from other problems in the country.

Yes, this is timed perfectly. It is about politics, continuing the state of perpetual guilt, sending a message to those who oppose current policies, and is pretty pitiful. Police forces in Germany are taxed to the limit and deployed to the borders, leaving the cities underpoliced, and this is how they use some of their resources right now?

[Lloyd I.]

A better article with more detail from The Mirror.uk

"
Andreas Brendel, of the war crimes investigations unit in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said all the men would be questioned at length.
Following raids on the men’s homes, Mr Brendel said his team ‘seized documents linked to the Hitler Youth division and the inquiry into the Ascq massacre.'


He said the men’s current legal status was ‘witness’ to a crime, rather than ‘criminal suspect’, but that could change at any time.
The men, who have not been identified, live in Saxony and Lower Saxony, and have long since retired from military service.
Referring to the Ascq shootings, Mr Brendel said: ‘The accused denied during questioning having been members of the division and thus any participation in the killings’.
German military units were famous for keeping detailed records during the war, and all those confiscated are now being studied at length.


If the men are charged, then they may be considered too old to stand trial, Mr Brendel told French news agency AFP.
‘This is always a serious problem with elderly suspects,’ he said.‘Our aim is to shed light on what happened - it is above all about establishing legal clarity on the Ascq massacre.’ Mr Brendel also led an investigation into 1944 slaughter of 642 people by SS troops in the south west village of Oradour-sur-Glane.


A court in Cologne struck out heard that Werner Christukat, 89, had been involved, but finally struck the case out in 2014."


The Ascq massacre happened after a Normandy-bound German troop train was blown up.


A Nazi commander ordered the arrest of all the males of the households living on both sides of the track and, altogether, 86 men were summarily murdered. Another six were arrested, charged and executed later.
Most of the young members of the enlisted men in the division were members of the Hitler Youth."