"You can run, but you can't hide...(forever)"
Huge news yesterday. It seems that the City of Lakes has once again made national headlines. Only this time it is for the most unsuspecting news - we have had (allegedly) an officer from the Nazi Secret Service living a secret life in hiding. It seems that Michael Karkoc made it into our country at the end of World War II, escaped prosecution for any war crimes committed, got married, had a bunch of kids, went to church, and had a career. Not bad since he has been on the lam for seventy years.
Reading about this case this morning, brought back memories of the world's most famous Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal. Mr. Wiesenthal became the biggest nightmare in the world to former Nazi's who thought they could outrun the long arm of the Hague. It is ironic that just recently I watched (for old times sake), one of my favorite movies from the seventies - The Boys from Brazil. One of the characters in the movie, played by Laurence Olivier, was modeled after Simon Wiesenthal. In face, Mr. Wiesenthal was a coach to Olivier on how to play the role.
Back to Minneapolis. What really fascinates me about this story is how a seventy year old very cold trail, all of a sudden led to identifying Karkoc by name and location. Karkoc, who is now 94 years old, "hit the road" as soon as the story broke. If it is true (his family of course denies it), that Karkoc is a wanted Nazi, I am sure he had a "bug out" plan secured for decades.
I have two thoughts on this entire issue. First, Operation Paperclip. I have written about this before. Even though many of the specifics of this operation are still kept private, we do know this much - hundreds of Nazis were whisked away from Germany after the war and "planted" in this country as American citizens. In fact, our own Wernher von Braun (Mr. "NASA"), was a former rocket builder for the Nazis. If the stories about Operation Paperclip are indeed true, it seems that Mr. Karkoc is not the only retired Nazi living in our country.
The second thought is this - what are we going to do with this retired carpenter, father of six, once we catch him? If he is indeed guilty, as far as punishment is concerned, we missed the boat. Seventy years of freedom is a lifetime. We could revoke his citizenship, and send him packing to be tried at the Hague. Now is where the tough part comes in. Do we forgive what he did for the "Fatherland" as a 24 year old Lieutenant? Do we judge his life for that period of time when man's inhumanity to man was the order of the day, or do we look at what he has done for past seventy years?
I don't know the answer to this one nor can I even give an opinion. This is going to be a tough call. Mr. Karkoc's best hope is this lands on the desk of Eric Holder. As we know, our Attorney General pardons everyone with a soiled past.
The second thought is this - what are we going to do with this retired carpenter, father of six, once we catch him? If he is indeed guilty, as far as punishment is concerned, we missed the boat. Seventy years of freedom is a lifetime. We could revoke his citizenship, and send him packing to be tried at the Hague. Now is where the tough part comes in. Do we forgive what he did for the "Fatherland" as a 24 year old Lieutenant? Do we judge his life for that period of time when man's inhumanity to man was the order of the day, or do we look at what he has done for past seventy years?
I don't know the answer to this one nor can I even give an opinion. This is going to be a tough call. Mr. Karkoc's best hope is this lands on the desk of Eric Holder. As we know, our Attorney General pardons everyone with a soiled past.
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