[danielam]

You're being disingenuous. First of all, my objection was to your equating whatever instances of Polish (please capitalize) retaliation against Germans with German war crimes. THAT is despicable. You cannot draw a moral equivalency between systematic German extermination and instances of retaliation (whether expulsion, spontaneous and isolated retribution, Jewish revenge squads or actions orchestrated by the Russians). Sadly, there have been attempts by some (like Erika Steinbach) to relativize and manipulate history to make Nazi war crimes seem not unusual for the time period, presumably to soften the guilt. Your original comment was doing precisely that. Second, much of the history surrounding retribution is still not settled and controversial. Sadly, it is politicized. There have been attempts to use favorable narratives to, e.g., extract restitution from Poland (!!) for confiscated property or property abandoned even decades after the war. A number of exaggerated, fabricated or unsubstantiated claims about supposed Nazi collaboration have been published as well which were later discredited. Third, expulsion (which was ordered by Russia and not something alien to Germans) is not systematic extermination (see first point). Fourth, ideally, everyone, regardless of ethnicity, should face justice. It is not always possible, but it does not mean that it should not be done when possible. Sadly, of the thousands of members of the SS involved in extermination and massacres, relatively few have faced trial. Finally, it's worth noting that Michael Karkoc, the subject of the article, is not German but Ukrainian. Ukrainians have not yet come to terms with Ukrainian collaboration with the Nazis.

[0x07c0]

My comment was to the absurdity of having a trail for a 98 year old man. As I get from your emotional involvement in this case, you come from the region? As you then probably know, in one country the SS (local) are among many considered heroes, in the neighbour country criminals. Elements of the local SS units was after the war taken over by the CIA(Gehlen Organization). And was waging guerilla war against the soviets. There successor units are presently fighting in the eastern Ukraine and are US allies (Right sector and others)..

https://www.thenation.com/article/dark-side-ukraine-revolt/