SSP Diaries | Pondering – justice or injustice?

Irmgard Furchner was born on May 29, 1925 in Gdansk, Poland. Wikipedia describes her as “a German former concentration camp secretary and stenographer at the Stutthof concentration camp, where she worked for camp commandant Paul-Werner Hoppe”. At the Stutthof facility, located in Nazi-occupied Poland, she was employed as a stenographer and typist, working directly for the commandant, from 1943 to 1945, at the tender age of 18 and 19, respectively.

On December 20, 2022 at the age of 97 years old, Irmgard Fuchner was given a two-year suspended sentence by the Regional Court of Itzehoe in Northern Germany for the role she is deemed to have played in the murder of 10,505 of the camp’s inhabitants during World War II. She is alleged, in her capacity as secretary to the commandant, to have “aided and abetted those in charge of the camp in the systematic killing of those imprisoned there between June 1943 and April 1945 in her function as a stenographer and typist in the camp commandant’s office”. (Bella T et al, Nazi Secretary, 97, convicted for role in 10,000 murders at death camp, Washington Post, 20 December 2022).

People ought to be appropriately punished for any crime committed. I question, however, the verdict on this one and there are similar cases worldwide. At the age of 18/19 in the heights of World War II, a teenager with skills, finding a job in a society void of choices, would grasp at any opportunity offered to make a living. To be employed in the Commandant’s Office at Stutthof might have been regarded as not only a good job but also one of privilege or esteem. Whether she took notes at meetings or was required to prepare documentation leading to the extermination of innocent people, these actions would constitute the requirements of her job. I have not read anywhere that she had the authority to order the deaths of any individual or that she participated in their executions. In her situation, it would more than likely be “suicidal” for her to refuse to do her duty, or even show sympathy, under the Nazi regime of the era.

The ability of Fuchner to retain her job would likely be linked to how she conformed to the clerical requirements being made of her in support of the commandant’s directives and there would be implications for her survival and that of her family, if she failed to do so. Taking into consideration her age at the time, the brutality of the Nazi occupying forces, the non-existence of job opportunities and the difficulty people had to merely exist then, what could reasonably be expected of her under the circumstances? In my mind she must have had knowledge of the atrocities being carried out daily but what could she do about it, is the question to be answered.

Complicit

It is not enough to say that you were there and are therefore complicit, that’s a harsh judgement, worlds away from the reality of the time. Where do we draw the line in these cases? For being there she received a two-year suspended sentence, I suppose, given her current age it could be worse, but I ponder, has justice really been served?

Sam Bankman-Fried or SBF, was a self-made billionaire by age 30 years old. He is the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange, FTX and cryptocurrency trading firm, Alameda Research. His company, like many other similar entities, failed in its deliverables and he now faces criminal charges involving securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. SBF has been extradited from The Bahamas, where he resided, to the USA, to face trial.

In the cryptocurrency world, I am seeing strange twists. The use of this medium to launder money on large scales has not gone unreported or undetected. The fact that the industry is unregulated and answers to no one but its individual self, is intriguing and wreaks of abundant dangers. Despite these indicators and many others, governments, worldwide, seem to be in bed with the “anancyism” displaying a willingness to be part of the obvious illegality rather than seeking to eradicate it as they have done with ponzi schemes, the proverbial “cloth” of an inferior texture.

In the Caribbean where our economies are so delicately balanced, many countries have embraced this “quick-money-big-profits” virtual roller coaster, even though the track records clearly show the domino effect of inevitable disastrous crashes. When are we going to learn that honesty is the best policy? When are we going to hold governments accountable? Is this a case of, if we can’t beat them, join them?

THE NEW DAWN

The recently concluded World Cup has sent a strong message to the game and the wider world, generally. It is simply this, persons of African descent/heritage are increasingly become the strength of many teams, whether they be at the club or national levels. In the recent finals, it is obvious that it was contested between Argentina and ‘Africa’. Argentina took the gold, ‘Africa’ the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Black players dominate the English Premier League, and their presence increases daily across similar European fixtures and even in the US, to an extent. The game in Africa is improving at a rapid rate for both male and female players and there is a healthy demand for those with good talent/aptitudes across the globe. Money is the great motivator for club owners and players alike.

I wonder, in the English Leagues, are we likely to see clubs being restricted to a particular number of “overseas” players going forward, as it happened when Caribbean players dominated the English Cricket League? There is no doubt that this has been discussed at many a meeting at the England Cricket Board. Will FIFA/EPL/ELF, etc., follow suit? In today’s world, making money seems to have the effect of reducing equity hurdles. I suspect, therefore, that by 2026 the Argentinian team will be more representative of their reality!

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