We are now heading rapidly toward the end of the covid scandal and so I was wondering whether those who had killed so many people through the lockup, the denial of medical treatment & their obsession with a (profitable) vaccine would ever acknowledge their guilt.

The nearest historical even I can think of is the delusion and hysteria that occurred when books started being printed about witches. That led to mass hysteria witch 🙂 led to the loss of many lives. Eventually, some people realised it was hysteria (which is the good news), but what happened after?

The best indication I have found is the aftermath of the Salem witch trials:

Aftermath of the Salem Trials

After the prisoners awaiting trial on charges of practicing witchcraft were granted amnesty (pardoned) in 1693, the accusers and judges showed hardly any remorse for executing twenty people and causing others to languish in jails. Instead they placed the blame on the “trickery of Satan,” thus freeing themselves from any sense of guilt. Jurors and townspeople also managed to maintain a clear conscience by claiming that, after all, many victims had confessed to their “crimes” and that the Salem, Massachusetts, community had been tricked by the devil. Yet families who had lost loved ones and property during the trials were expected to go on with their lives as if nothing had happened. Their attempts to regain social standing and receive financial compensation through formal legal channels took several years.

Judges and accusers show minimal guilt

Eventually a few judges hinted at apologies for their roles in the trials, but they did not assume any real guilt. For instance, Massachusetts governor William Phipps conveniently blamed his lieutenant governor, William Stoughton, who had served as a judge (see Chapter 4). As early as 1693 Phipps wrote a letter to the British government, quoted by Frances Hill in A Delusion of Satan, claiming that Stoughton “Hath from the beginning hurried on these matters with great precipitancy [haste] and by his warrant hath caused the estates, goods, and chattels [movable property] of the executed to be seized and disposed of without my knowledge or consent.” Plagued by poor harvests and mild disasters since the onset of the trials, Puritan leaders had begun to worry that God might be punishing them. Consequently some officials made earnest attempts to address the issue. The Massachusetts legislature declared January 14, 1697 a Day of Fasting to commemorate the victims of the trials. On this day, twelve trial jurors signed a petition admitting that they had convicted and condemned people to death on the basis of insufficient evidence. The document stated:

We do therefore hereby signify to all in general (and to the surviving sufferers in especial) . . . that we were sadly deluded and mistaken, for which we are much disquieted and distressed in our minds; and do therefore humbly beg for forgiveness. . . . We do heartily ask forgiveness from you all, whom we have justly offended, and do declare to our present minds, we would none of us do such things again on such grounds for the whole world, praying you to accept this in satisfaction for our offense, and that you would bless the inheritance of the Lord, that he may be entreated for the land. (From Hill, Frances, A Delusion of Satan, p. 99.)

(Source)

However, remember that this is the BEST that can be achieved. In most cases, there was no dissection of the cases afterwards.

We should expect the same excuses:

1. That those whose lives were destroyed were in some way to blame or even agreed to have their lives destroyed.
2. Those in power will never show remorse, instead they will blame the “trickery” of anyone and everyone else who they have a hope of pinning the blame on.
3. Compensation, even when it was clearly called for, will be a long time coming. But the reality, is that Salem is the exception and in most cases it never did, and never will come.