Thursday, February 5, 2009

Heim: Sociopath, Nazi War Criminal & the Challenge for Ethical Democracy

February 5th, 2009 4:38 am
Heim -- A consummate criminal, a genocider, a sociopath and psychopath who, most regrettably, was not brought to justice. Heim died peacefully in Cairo in 1992, a citizen of Egypt, but apparently his hiding place was only revealed recently.

This whole sequence of a life lived becomes a topic of concern in my empirical investigation of Self in Society in my "Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice" Blog.


It's ironic that the article mentions Heim planned to appeal to Kurt Waldheim -- yet another Nazi silent accomplice (see link below) who was honored with UN service and went unpunished.

Did Heim become less of a criminal because he became a Muslim? Yet another instance of religion being deployed for criminal, pathological uses, by individuals and the state.

Egypt aided and abetted this criminal by offering him political sanctuary and citizenship under an assumed,in this case, changed, name. So the Egyptian nation-state bears criminal responsibility and should pay reparation to the families of his victims. Unfortunately that may not happen until we make progress as ethical societies. That day may yet come. Heim's numerous victims who were rendered speechless in death, cry out for justice.
Justice is deathless. Ethical democracy to secure justice takes time and sincere, sustained effort.
The Arc of Justice........

Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://www.EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com

— EthicalDemocracy, New York, NY
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Uncovering Lost Path of the Most Wanted Nazi
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/world/africa/05nazi.html?pagewanted=1&hp
New York Times copyright
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by Jonathan Kandell,IHT article June 14, 2007 obit on Waldheim
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/14/europe/waldheim.php
International Herald Tribune copyright

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It has never been proved that Dr. Kurt Waldheim was a war criminal. I regard those allegations as very unprofessional.

Karl Heinrich Kreuthmayer, Vienna

Chithra.KarunaKaran said...

Reply to Karl Heinrich.

Dear Karl,
In my Blog i am attempting to investigate ethical(not necessarily legal), questions about Self in Society, particularly in contemporary democratic spaces.

I accept you reproof. But I accept it with reservation.

In my view the salient point made in the International Herald Tribune by Jonathan Kandell is the more ethically significant one when he quotes the research of Herzstein:

"Waldheim was clearly not a psychopath like Dr. Josef Mengele nor a hate-filled racist like Adolf Hitler," Herzstein wrote. "His very ordinariness, in fact, may be the most important thing about him. For if history teaches us anything, it is that the Hitlers and the Mengeles could never have accomplished their atrocious deeds by themselves. It took hundreds of thousands of ordinary men - well-meaning but ambitious men like Kurt Waldheim - to make the Third Reich possible."

Karl Heinrich, I would sincerely appreciate what you think of my analysis of Herzstein's research and conclusion.

Thanks very much.
Best Regards,
chithra karunakaran