John Demjanjuk: 'The Last Great Nazi Trial'

Macleans:

It is being touted as the last great Nazi trial. In November, John Demjanjuk--now first on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of most-wanted war criminals--will appear before a Munich court. He is charged with 27,900 counts of accessory to murder for his role as a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Demjanjuk is 89, and those in favour of prosecuting him feel a sense of urgency. "It's a race against time," says Michael Scharf, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University who has worked on the trials of Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic. "They're trying to close the book on justice before [his] life ends naturally."

Read the whole story: Macleans

Comments

[S1m0n]

How many times have they tried to convict this guy, now? And how many different sets of facts have they attempted to prove? Wiesenthal spent 20 years claiming that Demjanjuk was Ivan Grozny, AKA Ivan the Terrible, a notorious guard at Treblinka, only to have the case collapse following his conviction and death sentence in an Israeli court. Demjanjuk was exonerated on appeal. Now they're back claiming he's someone else from another camp, but the multiple prosecutions on differing facts look increasingly abusive and unfair. This case can no longer pass a sniff test.

[Wisdo]

"For this reason, Nuremberg is often seen as the birthplace of modern international law. Only through those trials did the terms “crimes against humanity” and “genocide” become legally significant."

Sadly modern International Law has now being belittled and marginalised by Bush's catastrophic administration and the Israelis, who under Netanyahu are asking for International law to be changed to accomodate their own "crimes against humanity".

[ChinaMurdoch]

John Demjanjuk was sentenced to death in Israel, later the Israeli supreme court freed him. Now accused of being a guard at the Sobibor death camp If he was that John Demjanjuk he was taken prisoner as a soviet soldier and was a prisoner at Sobibor himself, later volunteered to be a guard there. If true he was an accessory to the killings at the camp like many other prisoners - probably the only way to survive in a Nazi death camp.

As a German I find it extremely distasteful that our government allowed an important evil doer - Margot Honecker, former Minister in and wife of Erich Honecker, East Germany's dictator - to live comfortably on a German government pension in Chile.

And for decades the German justice system was full of former Nazi officials who never were held accountable for the evil deeds. One of them, Hans Filbinger, a military judge in WWII, prosecuted a German sailor while already under British control, later he managed to advance to Prime Minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

I suppose the court will do is best to arrive at a judgment against Demjanjuk but the real issue is all those terrible Nazi officials who continued their careers with little interruption in post war Germany (a few of them still alive today). Against that backdrop Demjanjuk is a poor soul who managed to survive a terrible war and an almost hopeless personal situation. Having been on death row in Israel should be enough punishment.

[Mollabaji]

Zionists will never let this be the "last trial". They will dig up someone somewhere to charge in order to keep the myths around the holocause alive for generations to come.
Suggestion: Try him in court, but along with Geroge W Bush and Cheney the other war criminals who committed more crimes than he ever did. Let us hear them in court.

[mamacat]

The last Nazi war criminal to be brought to justice? Good riddance to them.

I would like to use this opportunity to point out one particular way in which I strongly disagree with Rachel Maddow, with whom I generally agree.
Ms. Maddow has criticised the use of comparisons to Nazis, and I think she is wrong. Perhaps it is part of a general trend, in which people of younger generations do not feel in touch with that era because they did not have the chance to meet people who were directly effected by the Nazis. Not only are those who participated in World War II dying out, but those who knew those who were in World War II are going into their senior years, and are not as directly involved in the day to day decisionmaking of society as they used to be.

There are many lessons from that era that apply today, but as a society we seem to be forgetting them. As the saying goes, those who forget history, are doomed to repeat it.

On the other hand, the Right's constant use of comparisons between Hitler and Obama are ludicrous, which any student of history can't help but be aware of. Comparing an idealistic, community organising African-American to a Nazi, racist, mass murderer is beyond comprehension, and a disgraceful act in it's own right.

[AirViceMarshalPark]

Don't kid yourselves, Odessa is alive and well, richer and more embedded than ever while it protects the ill-gotten fortunes, stolen booty and reputations of descendants.

[Oleg1]

No mercy.

[mamacat]

There should be a special place in hell for mass murderers.

[ldillworth]

age and infirmity do not erase ones crimes.

[Mollabaji]

how old is Cheney?

[Pem3]

Well in a few years the Nazi war trails will be over there will be no one left to bring to court.

[brady61995]

and there will still be many the deny it ever happened

[Oleg1]

Precisely, Brady.

[Wisdo]

..yes, because only the nazis are guilty of 'Genocide' and 'crimes against humanity'.

Its sad that so many other human horrors get away with their crimes simply because they are not "nazis".

Idi Amin for example, lives out his days happily in Saudia Arabia, thanks to Uncle Sam.

[sense oar sheep]

in light of recent events across africa, the middle east, the united states and south asia this is a timely and appropriate article worthy of robust discussion concerning establishment of “universal jurisdiction” over war crimes and crimes against humanity

when i first heard "john demjanjuk" he was "ivan the terrible of treblinka, ukraine" responsible for many deaths in furtherance of atrocities against human beings

now, germany extradites john demjanjuk as a guard at sobibor, poland charging him with 27,900 counts of accessory to murder

john demjanjuk isn't being tried in hague

israel tried and acquitted john demjanjuk for reason

to me, “universal jurisdiction” means extradite and try criminals that are directly responsible for crimes against humanity and do not try conscripts compelled to do things that should never happen

accountablitity

[Oleg1]

"israel tried and acquitted john demjanjuk for reason."
That's right.
Demjanjuk was proven to be just a run-of-the-mill conc.camp guard and acquired of being the infamous Ivan the Terrible guard.

[Hank007]

Yea, because if this new case against him falls apart like the last one did, we may not have enough time to suddenly place him as a guard at a third camp, give him another scary nickname, and try him in yet another country for yet another crime.

[sense oar sheep]

well said fred

Universal Juridiction means trying smn wnthl for war crimes

[CigarGod]

What are you saying about smn wnthl?

[Gover]

I for one, am not going to let this happen. It'll be a cold day in hades before I stop accusing old men of being Nazi war criminals, and having them prosecuted in international courts based on forged evidence.

[Mollabaji]

Gover,
O.K. you don't have to wait at all. Get the International Court arrest and try war criminals NutandYaho­o(borrowed from someone else) and Olmert and all the leaders of today's Israel.

[Rand]

BTW, speaking of fakes and forgeries: He entered the US and acquired citizenship based on forged documents. He faked being disabled in order to avoid trial

But I guess that's alright with you