"I did nothing wrong"Follow

"I only kept them from running away."

By now, many of you have read or heard about Elfriede Rinkel, a former guard at Ravensbruck. Ravensbruck was a concentration camp for female prisoners and children during the **** era (yes, yes, Godwin's, piSs off).

So: after serving as a guard for several months, and hiding out after the camp was summarily emptied (by gas and a death march), this woman subsequently immigrated to the States and married a Jewish man who had fled Germany to escape the very people for whom she had worked.

The most interesting part, to me, is that she never told him about her past, and yet she continues to insist that it's not important - that she did nothing wrong.

What do you think? Is she culpable? And if not, why did she hide her past? And if so, why would she marry a Jew? And finally, does it matter after all this time?

It seems to me that this woman's life is a neat microcosm of the German mentality during and after the war: equal parts duty, denial, and secret shame, with a veneer of stoicism.


Edited, Sep 22nd 2006 at 12:15pm EDT by Samira

I think her clearly uncoerced involvement (it says she "volunteered" for the guard position) says it all. The bullshit about not knowing what was going on inside is very annoying. She knew where she was and what she was doing. She may or may not have had any malice towards Jews, but she was a participant in what happened.

That's the easy part. The hard part is deciding on what should be done with her now. Should she have been deported? I doubt she would be considered guilty of war-crimes, but where does that line get drawn?

Edited, Sep 22nd 2006 at 12:33pm EDT by Gladestrider

Well how many opportunities could she have had to tell someone? I don't think it'd come up too easily in a conversation.

She was married to a Jewish guy for 42 years. I kinda think, if she wanted to broach the subject, she could have managed it.

Edited to add: This, I think, is the creepiest part of the whole story. Not that she took a job as a prison guard (giving her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she didn't know what kind of camp it was); not that she felt reticent about talking about it, later, when it was suddenly a big deal and she felt the need to hide it.

It's that she was married for 42 years to a man who didn't know her, at all. He died never knowing that his beloved wife worked for Them, for that evil machine that wiped out much of his own family.



Edited, Sep 22nd 2006 at 1:55pm EDT by Samira

Maybe her husband was just a really wily coot and it took 42 years to finish the job?

Yeah. I think it goes without saying that it's a good thing he died before this happened. Or likely he would have had a heart attack right there.

No one really knows anyone.
Hindsight is 20/20.

Those platitudes aside, she is a fossil of a bygone era, whose views are subject to a million prejudices and emotional nets she's built to support herself over the years. If she would have pulled the switch to kill them, maybe I'd be more judgemental, but she was one of many drones who simply followed a badly placed lead. I would say any fault she carries is between her and God. If she didn't know what was going on at the time and she found out later, the shame of it may have kept her silent.

No joke. It also must be something to have your entire life looked at through the lens of a rash decision in your youth. Now the portrait of your recently departed husband's grave is "placed strategically".

I hate getting into debates like this. But just one thing. What i think she did
(more so how i would feel) is she felt terrible for being a guard there
(also keep in mind maybe she didnt know about how it was cruel till AFTER she started the job, maybe she was afraid the ****'s would suspect her, they killed grand children of Jews for crying out loud) and she just didnt want him to know. She had found someone she loved that happened to be a jew, and even if he wasnt how do you think he woulf feel? Maybe she thought he would freak out and leave her. Personally I would understand him leaving her because of how people react to the mere word ****.
Anyways, im a 14 year old, what do I know? ><

It's true, come to Wisconsin where the majority is German. We keep trying to get violent.

"innocent" is debateable. If they're killing people who were cheering after 9/11 , I couldn't give 2 flaming sh*ts about it. Not to mention what the "innocent civilians" do when they get their hands on one of our soldiers. ( dragging them behind trucks then burning and beheading them, for reference, bud.)

Edited, Sep 23rd 2006 at 2:22pm EDT by Abadd

U.S.troops. you know the whole" evil america killing innocent, peace loving muzzies".

This thread has nothing to do with anything you're talking about. Good job, loser.