Should a Third Reich occupation official responsible for reviewing Dutch applications to be spared from being sent to death camps be honored as a hero because he sent less than half petitions to be killed, a number that amounted to thousands? The residents of Osnabrück in northwest Germany are considering naming a museum to the Final Solution after Hans Georg Calmeyer, a native of the city, who spent the war years in the safety of a Nazi office in occupied Holland, using his pen to spare some Jews while condemning others.
Hero or Nazi war criminal? ′Good German′ Hans Calmeyer′s legacy debated | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 18.07.2020
There are some who say nobody is perfect but it mystifies me that a man who asked for the job of sending some Jews to their deaths can be considered by present-day Germans in Osnabrück as one of the millions of 'Good Germans'. Some are even comparing him to Oscar Schindler who saved many Jews from extermination by giving them jobs in his munitions factory near Krakau, occupied Poland.
Georg Calmeyer had a comfortable job in The Hague during WWII.
Should a Third Reich occupation official responsible for reviewing Dutch applications to be spared from being sent to death camps be honored as a hero because he sent less than half petitions to be killed, a number that amounted to thousands? The residents of Osnabrück in northwest Germany are considering naming a museum to the Final Solution after Hans Georg Calmeyer, a native of the city, who spent the war years in the safety of a Nazi office in occupied Holland, using his pen to spare some Jews while condemning others.
Hero or Nazi war criminal? ′Good German′ Hans Calmeyer′s legacy debated | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 18.07.2020
There are some who say nobody is perfect but it mystifies me that a man who asked for the job of sending some Jews to their deaths can be considered by present-day Germans in Osnabrück as one of the millions of 'Good Germans'. Some are even comparing him to Oscar Schindler who saved many Jews from extermination by giving them jobs in his munitions factory near Krakau, occupied Poland.
Georg Calmeyer had a comfortable job in The Hague during WWII.
You are missing the point that he did not have to work with the Nazi Final Solution system. If you read the article, you will see that Hans Georg Calmeyer requested to be a jurist in Occupied Holland. To excuse him for sending only a couple of thousand Jews to death camps when he did not have to do that job in the first place strikes me as odd. We read of old men in their 90s being brought to trial because they were posted as teenage guards in camps but never hurt a single inmate while this Nazi scoundrel who used his fountain pen to send thousands to their deaths is getting a Final Solution museum in his name strikes me as shameful.Seems he was working within the system to save as many as he could. Second guessing a guy working directly under noses of the nazi's who managed to save over 2/3rds of jews whose "bloodline claims' were suspect. Apparently they were watching him.
You are missing the point that he did not have to work with the Nazi Final Solution system. If you read the article, you will see that Hans Georg Calmeyer requested to be a jurist in Occupied Holland. To excuse him for sending only a couple of thousand Jews to death camps when he did not have to do that job in the first place strikes me as odd. We read of old men in their 90s being brought to trial because they were posted as teenage guards in camps but never hurt a single inmate while this Nazi scoundrel who used his fountain pen to send thousands to their deaths is getting a Final Solution museum in his name strikes me as shameful.
Should a Third Reich occupation official responsible for reviewing Dutch applications to be spared from being sent to death camps be honored as a hero because he sent less than half petitions to be killed, a number that amounted to thousands? The residents of Osnabrück in northwest Germany are considering naming a museum to the Final Solution after Hans Georg Calmeyer, a native of the city, who spent the war years in the safety of a Nazi office in occupied Holland, using his pen to spare some Jews while condemning others.
Hero or Nazi war criminal? ′Good German′ Hans Calmeyer′s legacy debated | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 18.07.2020
There are some who say nobody is perfect but it mystifies me that a man who asked for the job of sending some Jews to their deaths can be considered by present-day Germans in Osnabrück as one of the millions of 'Good Germans'. Some are even comparing him to Oscar Schindler who saved many Jews from extermination by giving them jobs in his munitions factory near Krakau, occupied Poland.
Georg Calmeyer had a comfortable job in The Hague during WWII.
If Vad Yeshem says he was OK that is good enough for me. In this particular case the only opinions that count are those of Jews.
okay. feel that way. Rejecting 2/3rds while under the nazis noses, kinda indicates the guy had an agenda. Most would prefer to think of the 3,000 he saved. But, if he really was a nazi, piss on him.
Yad Vashem will sort it out.
I disagree that only Jews can have a valid opinion on who is guilty of war crimes. As it happens, Yad Veshem are embarrassed by their earlier quick decision about Calmeyer and they are reviewing their earlier award when they got the testimony of Auschwits-Birkenau few and far-between survivors.If Vad Yeshem says he was OK that is good enough for me. In this particular case the only opinions that count are those of Jews.
Covers it aptly, leastwise to me, and I need add nothing.Not killing people doesn't carry the same moral weight as killing people. I don't kill people every day, yet no-one gives me a medal. Guy was directly responsible for the deaths of thousands. That he could of killed more doesn't change that.
He saved Jews from death? Sounds pretty good to me.
Not killing people doesn't carry the same moral weight as killing people. I don't kill people every day, yet no-one gives me a medal. Guy was directly responsible for the deaths of thousands. That he could of killed more doesn't change that.
Should a Third Reich occupation official responsible for reviewing Dutch applications to be spared from being sent to death camps be honored as a hero because he sent less than half petitions to be killed, a number that amounted to thousands? The residents of Osnabrück in northwest Germany are considering naming a museum to the Final Solution after Hans Georg Calmeyer, a native of the city, who spent the war years in the safety of a Nazi office in occupied Holland, using his pen to spare some Jews while condemning others.
Hero or Nazi war criminal? ′Good German′ Hans Calmeyer′s legacy debated | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 18.07.2020
There are some who say nobody is perfect but it mystifies me that a man who asked for the job of sending some Jews to their deaths can be considered by present-day Germans in Osnabrück as one of the millions of 'Good Germans'. Some are even comparing him to Oscar Schindler who saved many Jews from extermination by giving them jobs in his munitions factory near Krakau, occupied Poland.
Georg Calmeyer had a comfortable job in The Hague during WWII.
He also sent other Jews to their deaths. Sounds like a war criminal to me.
He sent them or they were already on their way and he could not pull them out of line?
That depends. But I'm more inclined to go with raw numbers. If he did allow thousands of Jews to be sent on to their deaths, then I would argue that he was NOT "doing all he could".
... that is a good point. Just to play Devils Advocate... at what point does a person help others but try to not be noticed and probably murdered themselves?
Fair point. It is a difficult question and I wouldn't presume to know how I would've acted in such a situation. But intellectually I think that a person is obligated to prevent the murders of others up to and including endangering their own lives.
Oskar Schindler has been brought up. I would have some problems with Schindlers saving of Jews if those Jews were saved by putting them to work in his factory had been making weapons that the Nazis subsequently used to murder more Jews. But it is my understanding that Schindler's factory producing no war supporting products worthy of note.
We're getting deep into not only a moral issue but a philosophical issue of the "good vs. the greater good". Just shows that in real life there are no easy answers.
Yad Vashem listened only to stories of those who were spared, not the families (usually working class) who perished at the stroke of Calmeyer's pen.
I wrote the truth. Read the article. Vad Yashem is reconsidering its hasty praise of Calmeyer. Even their original decision to name him righteous had dissenters at the time. Vad Yashem did not pay attention to all survivors who were victims of Calmeyer.Not true. Vad Yashem listens to ALL survivor stories.
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