Ladislav Niznansky was on trial in Munich last week to answer charges of war crimes committed in 1945. Niznansky (now 86) was the commander of a Nazi unit in Slovakia. In January and February 1945 this unit massacred 164 civilians across three villages. He himself is said to have shot 20. ...
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Ladislav Niznansky's unit, 1945
After the war ended Niznansky came to Munich and lived here peacefully for many decades. It's amazing that nearly 60 years since the war there are still cases like this coming to court. Whatever happened to the idea of 'forgive and forget'? While it seems there can never be any forgiveness for such crimes, there is certainly forgetfulness. At the trial last week none of the witnesses could remember what Nazinsky's role in the massacre was. Thus, on Friday he was allowed to walk free.
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Ladislav Niznansky on trial in Munich, 2004
The trial is set to continue for a number of months but a conviction now looks very unlikely. General opinion is that the war itself was to blame for this massacre, as opposed to any one particular individual.
For more information (in German) see:
» Der Fall Niznansky - sueddeutsche.de