The main thrust of your recent editorial, ”Dubious justice in Berlin,”
was that justice was not served for prosecuting two East German border guards. One was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison and the other received a suspended sentence of two years, while Erich Honecker and other East German leaders had not been charged.
Charges are being prepared against Honecker and the others, but by the very magnitude of their involvement the preparation has been far more comprehensive and complex. This should not lead the Tribune to conclude that because the present status is not a ”fait accompli” that they will not be brought to trial in the future. It is difficult to understand your assessment that these convicted guards manning machineguns in their sentry nests were under such ”great duress” and ”fearsome compulsion” in killing an unarmed civilian who was only fleeing to freedom.
In a very real and unsettling sense the guards were volunteers, as it was the East Germany`s policy that any soldier given the assignment of border guard had the option of serving in another branch.
The Nuremberg 35 all pleaded innocent of their crimes on the grounds that they were simply complying with the laws of the Third Reich. Eichmann also pleaded that he was merely a dutiful soldier.
