soc.history.war.world-war-ii

aspqrz@pacific.net.au (Phil McGregor) wrote:
>
> "Scott M. Kozel" wrote:
>
> > I have not claimed that the Kormoran crew "told
> > the pure unvarnished truth."
>
> No, you merely seem to accept it as such

Then your reading comprehension is poor, because I don't believe that,
and I haven't said it.

> >I merely think that accusations of war crimes is a very serious
> >matter, and that unless there is clear evidence of such, that the
> >default position should be that they did not commit war crimes.
>
> And my position is that the lack of evidence is such that nothing can
> be ruled out (except Alien Space Bats, UFOs and Japanese submarines,
> in all likelihood) ... and I haven't had to mention strawmen accounts
> of machinegunning survivors *once*, let alone *twice*.

Do you really want to go there when there is a lack of evidence
concerning such a serious allegation?

One could just as easily cast aspersions on the Syndey crew, based on
the principal of a "position that the lack of evidence is such that
nothing can be ruled out."

Given that all of the senior officers are likely deceased (the Kormoran
captain died in 1976), why not let the men rest in peace? I detest the
actions of the national leadership of Germany in WWII, to put it mildly,
but their field unit commanders by and large fought in a fair and
reasonable manner, and now that 2/3 of a century has elapsed since this
action, I think that it is time to move on, and that applies concerning
the crew of both ships.