Just read about Laszlo Csatary on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18876847.
This kind of story sickens me. Whereas some may question a desire for justice (a large part of which for me is indeed revenge, and I make no apologies for that), there is real debate about whether this man, who was already found guilty in absentia in 1948 and was issued a death sentence, deserves to go to prison.
Anyone who thinks this beast deserves compassion should be made to watch some of the hours of footage from extermination camps and brutalisation of minorities I have sat through… or talk to real people who survived the holocaust with real accounts of loved ones being tortured and murdered.
Such historically ignorant and sheltered people, who are all-too-common and have benefitted from decades of peace thanks to the sacrifices of past generations, need to learn much more about 20th century history.
If you’re one of the tiresome ‘right-on’ drones, who follow popular sentiment and appeal to the masses to have the right kind of thoughts and opinions without any capacity for your own research and thought, or you take the view that we should try to rehabilitate him, I despair.
If you think he deserves compassion, due to the time elapsed since his crime, or you think we should forgive everyone for everything, I have a challenge for you…
Put yourself in the shoes of one of his victims – let’s pick a mother watching her child being snatched away from her and murdered in front of her eyes. Now – you think about your own children put into these situations. No, really – think about that – make it real and personal, like it was for so many millions of people. Watch, in your imagination, your child or loved one killed in any conceivable horrific way and see if you actually do have just one ounce of empathy for his victims. If you can still feel compassion for him, just because he has evaded justice for decades, there is something wrong with your moral compass. If you find it less troublesome, because it happened a while ago and it was someone else’s problem, just personalise it for a while.
Personally, having seen what I’ve seen, and read what I’ve read, I commend the work of those who seek to hunt down every last person involved in systematic and sadistic crimes against people in that period of history.
And it’s a shame I don’t believe in a God/Heaven/Hell, because I’d love to think that the Csatarys of this world would end up in Hell and experience their own sadistic treatment towards others inflicted a thousand times over on themselves.
Vengeful enough? Good.