Topics War

Question My maternal grandfather was a teenager in the Second World War, and he stole a pocket knife and a relatively valuable watch from a dead German. This kind of looting, I gather, was widespread at the time, yet the few times I was told the story, whoever was telling (either my grandfather or my mother) always seemed slightly embarrassed, and appeared to be trying to make excuses for taking stuff from a dead body. If we look beyond the Second World War, looting bodies (as in, taking items from the corpse when one did not cause the death oneself) is often considered quite despicable. But assuming one is not in such a position as to know whether the person made a will and who the items should be returned to, why should we disapprove of it so strongly?

Accepted:
July 15, 2011

Comments

Transpose the case to one where you come across a body by the side of a rural road in your own country. You stop your car, find that the person is dead, then take her valuables and drive off. You are in no position to know whether the person has made a will or who the items should be returned to. Is your conduct then alright?

I would think not. Though you don't know who this person's friends and relatives are, its quite likely that she had friends and relatives, and it's quite possible that some of them would appreciate something to remember her by. Likewise, though you don't know whether or not she has made a will, she may well have done so and, in any case, will have legal heirs under the law. (One reason she may not have made a will is that she was content for her property to go to those the laws says it should go to if she dies intestate.) It's not your job to find the heirs, friends, relatives. But this does not mean you can just walk off with her stuff.

This reaction to the domestic case explains why your grandfather's conduct at least appears morally dubious. Just like the woman by the side of the rural road, the dead German is likely to have had friends and relatives and legal heirs. It is quite possible that the valuable watch -- perhaps passed down within the family -- would have been meaningful to one of them (much like your grandfather's watch might come to be your treasured possession one day).

The parallel might break down in two ways. First, one might argue that the Germans were enemies and therefore not worthy of any fine consideration. When we're bombing their cities, how can it be wrong to deprive them of a treasured watch? Here one needs to think further about whether it was alright to bomb their cities. Some argue that the ordinary constraints against bombing cities were overridden in this case by the military importance of the bombing raids. Even if this were right, no military purpose is served by stealing a watch from a dead German. Others might argue that the Germans had forfeited any claim to consideration. But how can we say this about those who opposed Hitler or about those who were children at the time (including perhaps the dead German's little son who, growing up half-orphaned, would have treasured his parent's watch)? And so it seems that the parallel to the domestic case still stands.

Second, one might argue that the watch would not have made its way to the dead German's heirs anyway. Had your grandfather not stolen it, another GI would have done so or else it might have been buried somewhere with the corpse. I cannot judge the truth or probability of these subjunctives. But, if this is what your grandfather reasonably thought, then why not ascertain the dead German's name and make an effort, later, to return the loot? Many soldiers have done exactly that and thereby contributed to reconciliation after the war, and even formed lasting friendships with their erstwhile enemies.