German Court Fines 3 for Failing to Help Ailing Retiree in Bank<br />On Monday, a district court in Essen convicted three people of failing to help the man, an 83-year-old retiree whose family asked<br />that he not be publicly identified, and who died in a hospital a week after the events, in a case that has prompted soul-searching about compassion for others.<br />"When there are factors, such as the person in need of help is drunk or looks homeless, then the willingness to help is<br />close to zero," Rainer Banse, a professor of psychology at the University of Bonn, told the public broadcaster ARD.<br />"It was shortly after 5 p.m. on a holiday, there was nothing<br />that pointed to someone wanting to lie down to rest." In a country that prides itself on the rule of law and order, that four people failed to help a man lying on the floor of a bank raised the question of whether Germans had become unconcerned about their fellow citizens.<br />There are no government statistics on the number of homeless people in Germany,<br />but according to the Federal Association of Help for the Homeless, about 335,000 people live on the country’s streets.<br />"There are always homeless people who go to the branch to sleep, or for other reasons,"<br />Peter Schmidt, a lawyer for the female defendant, told the public broadcaster ZDF.<br />"I didn’t care if it was a homeless man or someone else," Patrick S. told the public broadcaster WDR.
