Over sixty years after ordering the torture and deportation of Jews to Concentration Camps in WWII, the man-hunt is on for Laszlo Csatary. Csatary was a police chief in a ghetto in the Slovakian city of Kosice, then part of Hungary. “He played a “key role” in the deportation of 300 Jews to Kamyanets-Podilsky in Ukraine where they were killed and also helped organize the deportation of 15,700 Jews to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland.” After living in Hungary for some time, the now 97 year-old Csatary has went into hiding as investigators closed in on his whereabouts. Csatary was able to evade capture, but the hunt is still on.
Csatary has been convicted in absentia and sentenced to death for his role in sending nearly 16,000 Jews to their deaths. Pressure is currently being put on Hungarian forces to increase the intensity of their search and finally bring this man to justice. Hungarian prosecutors point out the fact that there may be problems in prosecuting Csatary in Hungary for crimes committed so long ago in a foreign jurisdiction.
Questions are also being asked by some of the need to search out and prosecute this now 97 year-old man. To his neighbors in Hungary he was, “a quiet, nice, old man.” No matter how old he may be, in my opinion justice will only be served for the people he killed by prosecuting him. Crimes do not dissolve with the passage of time. Should the search be continued, or do you think that time has healed Csatary’s transgressions?
Quotes from: http://news.yahoo.com/sadistic-nazi-war-criminal-laszlo-csatary-97-lived-161911645–abc-news-topstories.html.
The need to prosecute this man, or any other man for criminal activity is almost essential in modern society. Laws only have value if they can be enforced, and individuals in society must be willing to face the consequences of violating the laws of a society they belong to. Despite this man’s age, the search for him should continue in an effort to create a consequence for his past actions. That being said, this man may pass away before he is brought before any court of law due to natural causes. One may consider this man’s evasion of authorities over this prolonged period (and potentially his natural death) to be a successful defiance of society’s laws, but I contend that the evading this particular man has presumably engaged in, at an old age, has indirectly sanctioned him through a limitation of his freedoms and is a consequence of his reprehensible past actions.
I don’t think that the passage of time should play any role in Hungary’s decision to pursue this man. The Holocaust demonstrated the evil that human beings are capable of; those individuals who played a leading role in it deserve to be held accountable for their actions–regardless of age or the passage of time. Casatary was put in charge of an internment camp where over 12,000 Jews were packed into train cars and shipped to Aushwitz. I’m sure the decendants of the millions of Holocaust victims, especially those of Hungarian descent, would agree that this man needs to face swift justice.
When it comes to events as horrific as the Holocaust, time definitely cannot heal all wounds. The passage of time may allow those who experienced the event to better cope with the situation, but they surely will never forget. In this instance, we are not talking about someone who committed a single murder decades ago (which would still be a horrible crime), but someone who basically sent 16,000 people to be executed. No matter how long someone can evade the authorities, they should simply not “get a free pass” for ducking the law for decades. No matter how long it takes, Csatary should be brought to justice in order to show the world that people who commit, or are involved in heinous crimes against humanity will pay a price for their actions.