Deported By U.S., Accused Nazi Gets Royal Treatment in Austria: Neues Deutschland, Germany
Would the United States government deport a confirmed Nazi murderer to Austria, only to see him live out his life in a luxury apartment with 24-hour a day care? Those of you who answered yes win the prize.
Hot on the heels of the case of John Demjanjuk, a former Nazi collaborator and naturalized American from Cleveland now standing trial as an accomplice to 27,900 murders, comes the case of Josias Kumpf.
Kumpf, a former Nazi concentration camp guard, emigrated to the United States in 1956 and became a naturalized American in 1964. Deported to Austria by the Justice Department in March, today he can, according to German Green Party official Johannes Rauch, ‘move about the country unobserved and with complete freedom.’
For Germany’s Neues Deutschland newspaper, reporter Rene Heilig writes in part:
“The regional director for domestic security in the province of Vorarlberg 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 under the 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. He’s 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.’”
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.
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5 Responses to “Deported By U.S., Accused Nazi Gets Royal Treatment in Austria: Neues Deutschland, Germany”
When I lived over there, many of the old folks pined away about the “good old days” before the war. Many an old Nazi drank beer and sank songs under the May pole each year. Nobody gave a damn. The Alpine lakes are full of old military uniforms, guns, and equipment dumped by returning soldiers on the way home in the last days of the war. There are many local news articles that document people finding these dumped items. The general atmosphere then was “live and let live, you cannot bring back the dead and we lost a heck-of-a-lot of people too”.
I was appalled, but felt it wiser to keep my mouth shut less I become a dumped article myself.
FT, I lived 6 years in Germany, married a German woman. Her grandfather was a full blown Nazi. I don't know where you lived, but I never once came across the attitude you are talking about. Most Germans are still either very ashamed of what happened or view it as the sins of their grandfathers.
I've never once heard a soul speak of the good old days before WW2.
Dear Shannonlee,
Keep in mind that the article, while published in a German newspaper, is about Austria. The climate toward Nazism in Austria is not the same as it is in Germany, where soul-searching and contrition is more pronounced.
William-
You are absolutely correct. The Nazi SS tatooed a number on their soldiers similar to the numbers tatooed on Jews and others. I saw many such numbers proudly displayed. The Austrian stats polizei keeps record, but you will never get into it.
Its almost a moot point though. Nowdays they are so old and few are still alive. More importantly, I don't think all the mass graves of people they killed have been discovered yet. I wonder if the Austrian governemnt would even allow a search?
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