Talk:Karl Silberbauer

old comments
He was acting under orders?!?! Why did he get off? PatGallacher 00:06, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

He was investigated for any evidence of misdemeanor and nothing was found. Otto Frank felt that although Silberbauer arrested him, his family and friends, he behaved decently and that the blame should be with whoever betrayed them, since the arresting officers were obliged to arrest them.Yallery Brown 00:59, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

That may be Frank's personal view, but I was not previously aware that "acting under orders" was a valid defence under Austrian law (or German or Dutch law). Is it then? PatGallacher 12:19, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
 * It's not. This was established at the Nuremburg trials.  Silberbauer escaped his just punishment because of the compassion of Otto Frank.  If he'd had any decency, he would have hung himself for his guilt in the holocaust.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.6.159.76 (talk) 22:03, 17 October 2009 (UTC)
 * The Nuremberg Show Trials neither established any new law nor facts. "Higher Orders" is a valid legal defense in almost any legal system of the world. That is, if that legal system complies with civilized standards. Besides that Silberbauer did not do anything remotely illegal at all. He arrested people that dodged legal call ups by the occupational government of the Netherlands at the time. As for "higher orders", it was a legal defense for Allied personnel, when they did murder German people, if this was even investigated, which mostly it wasn't, that is. --105.0.3.186 (talk) 21:19, 13 March 2018 (UTC)

It was Otto Frank's personal view, but as he was the only living witness to the arrest, his police statement exonerating Silberbauer was absolutely essential for a possible conviction. What you have to understand is that the Silberbauer investigation happened as a result of the search for the betrayer of the Frank family, who if he or she had been found would have faced criminal charges. Silberbauer himself, as strange as it may seem, did not actually commit a crime by arresting the family, so he got off on a technicality. More on this can be found in Carol Ann Lee's biography 'The Hidden Life of Otto Frank' and in the introduction to the Revised Critical Edition of the Diary. Yallery Brown 22:02, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

PatGallacher, when an officer is sent to arrest someone he is not expected to pass judgement each time on the laws under which the arrest warrant was issued, the evidence to support it, or the government he serves. It just doesn't work that way. You might make a case that anyone who puts themself in a position of being issued such orders by working for the agency that issues them could be considered guilty by default, but the decision was made shortly after the war, by people who were much closer to the events than we are, that this was not the correct way to proceed. I think it is reasonable defer to their judgement. --66.92.68.103 00:46, 10 July 2006 (UTC) Worldwalker, too lazy to log in
 * Using that rationale, everyone other than Hitler himself should be declared not guilty. 70.186.172.75 (talk) 19:18, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
 * This discussion is not about a Wiki article. These are cogent opinions but they shouldn't be here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.221.102.102 (talk) 16:09, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

About Silberbauer life and death
I was very surprised to lread that Silberbauer finally died in a polish jail in 1972. How did he get in ? Could you tell me more about this ? It seems that he almost disapeared after 1963... Do you know what happened to him beetwenn '63 and '72 ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Loldoors (talk • contribs) 09:53, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes I would also like to know how he ended up in Poland. Why did he go to prison? Does anyone know?--SelfQ (talk) 11:01, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I can't find any other references to his supposed death in a polish prison. Unless it can be supported by some evidence this "fact" should probably be removed. Cubelodyte —Preceding undated comment was added at 18:33, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Auschwitz-Birkenau
In the article, it states that the residents of the loft were taken to Westerbork and then to Bergen-Belsen. I believe that some, (Anne, Margot and Edith at a minimum), were taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau for a period of time before Anne and Margot, (and possibly others), finally ended up in Bergen-Belsen. I believe Edith Frank, (Anne and Margot's mother), actually died in Auschwitz-Birkenau. — Preceding unsigned comment added by TheKingofCatan (talk • contribs) 19:04, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

Gentile protectors
"Soon after, Gentile protectors Kugler and..." I'm not sure it's such a great idea to identify people who are not Jewish by using an [ethnonym] (i.e., Gentiles) by which they do not themselves identify. I think this should be changed to the plain-English "non-Jew," or non-Jewish." That would make this clearer to non-Jewish readers, not all of whom know what is meant by "Gentile." Dcs002 (talk) 03:22, 16 October 2017 (UTC)

Mention
"Upon being asked about Anne Frank's diary, Silberbauer stated: "I bought the little book last week to see if I am in it. But I am not."

Anne Frank presumably wasn't free to keep writing after the raid and she did not survive the war. It would not have been possible for her to write about the raid or who arrested her. --The Vital One (talk) 22:35, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Undercover operations
Silberbauer returned to Vienna in April 1945 and served a fourteen-month prison sentence ... After his release, Silberbauer was recruited by the West German Federal Intelligence Service (BND), and spent ten years as an undercover operative. How ist that possible? The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was founded in 1949 and its BND in 1956.