Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/09/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Nathan, You are absolutely right about the way you identify the prosecuted parties in the mentionned cases. It is not admissible that anyone should "pre-judge" the case in favour of any party as it has been done on this list the very day the prosecution was announced. The subject is both painful and complex. It needs debates based on facts and testimonies, not on hearsay or preconceptions. If historians have records as to what exactly happened around the Leitz company (and not only the Leitz family) at the time, it is legitimate that they should communicate about them. For others, such as myself, the only attitude possible is to wait for the outcome of the lawsuit, and to take note of the arguments of the parties involved. It is about time justice and even history closes cases that should have been resolved right after the war and were not resolved then for a whole series of reasons, partly related to the conflicting international situation prevailing then in Germany and Europe. I would also like to know exactly what the Leitz company did during the nazi years, how much they lost or profited from that racist dictatorship. Most of all, I will scrutinize the way the current management manages the current lawsuit. And THAT may or may not prevent me from remaining a Leica customer. Friendly regards Alan Brussels-Belgium Nathan Wajsman wrote: > > I strongly disagree with this statement. The corporations involved, the Swiss > banks etc., all profited from their immoral actions during the war, and it is > entirely appropriate that they are prosecuted for it--as corporations! Nobody is > talking about putting the current managers of those companies in jail or making > them personally responsible. The only immoral thing about the current legal > actions is that they are happening only now when most of the Holocaust survivors > are very old or dead. But still--better late than never. > > Whether or not Leica was engaged in exploitation of slave labour is also an > appropriate topic for this list, since we discuss all things having to do with > Leica, including the history of the company. Whatever the findings, it will not > stop me from buying Leica, but I am surely interested in seeing the results of > an investigation (if one is indeed going on).