Posted on 07/13/2009 9:21:56 AM PDT by Daffynition
Prosecutors in Germany have formally charged alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder in World War II.
The prosecutors' office in Munich said the charges had been filed on Monday.
There was no immediate word on when the trial of the 89-year-old retired car worker, who was deported from the United States in May, might begin.
Mr Demjanjuk has denied accusations that he was a guard at the Sobibor death camp and helped murder Jews.
He says he was captured by Germans in his native Ukraine while fighting for the Red Army and kept as a prisoner of war.
Deportation
The formal filing of charges on Monday came 10 days after medical experts at Munich's Stadelheim prison declared that Mr Demjanjuk was fit to stand trial, provided that his questioning in court was limited to two 90-minute sessions per day.
Mr Demjanjuk's family have said he is too frail to stand trial because he suffers from kidney disease, cancer and arthritis. In May, he was admitted to hospital for three days after developing gout.
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin says it is unclear when the trial will begin, but it could be as early as this autumn.
Efraim Zuroff, the top Nazi-hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which considers Mr Demjanjuk the world's most-wanted suspected Nazi war criminal, welcomed the move by German prosecutors.
"This is obviously an important step forward," he told the Associated Press. "We hope that the trial itself will be expedited so that justice will be achieved and he can be given the appropriate punishment."
"The effort to bring Demjanjuk to justice sends a very powerful message that the passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrator."
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
“He says he was captured by Germans in his native Ukraine while fighting for the Red Army and kept as a prisoner of war. “
If this were true, there would be records of it and seems as tho it would be very easy for him to prove.
Even if he’s guilty, wasn’t he basically “eliminating populations we don’t want too many of”.
That’s a quote from Justice Ginsberg describing her thoughts about what Roe v. Wade is all about....
So,, a guy from Ukraine, (at best a sergeant) is being charged with Nazi atrocities, by a German prosecutor,,, in Munich, using evidence provided by the USSR?
They need to look up “irony” in the dictionary.
Meanwhile all kinds of octogenarian Germans, who served as Officers in the SS, are trudging through Munich this afternoon, going for a nice summer walk in the park.
They already tried and convicted him of being "Ivan the Terrible," but the conviction was later overturned.
Now they're accusing him of being some other Nazi war criminal.
Seems as tho (sic) the authorities find it easy to 'prove' just about anything.
No kidding. They have been after this guy for as long as I can remember. And where are his counterparts? I have never heard about any other zealous hunt other than this guy. It’s as if he was the ONLY one who committed crimes. This whole case has smelled fishy from the start. I am not defending him, but what the hell?
29000 charges could make for a long trial.
So I guess they’ll just keep trying until something sticks?
After the ‘snip’:
“And in March 2009, prosecutors in Munich issued a warrant for his arrest, accusing him of being an accessory in the deaths of Jews.
They said they had documents proving his Nazi background, including an SS identity card which showed he had been a guard at Sobibor between March and September 1943, and many witness testimonies.”
Because some murderers get away, one you caught should not?
For the record, there is ample evidence, show in US Court and on appeak, that this guy is a murderer:
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/04/15/the-case-against-demjanjuk-and/print
From the Court:
“The government had the burden of proving its contention to the Court by clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence. It did so. Although the Court carefully considered the evidence submitted by defendant to attempt to keep the government from satisfying its burden, the defendant’s evidence was not sufficiently credible to cast doubt on the documentary evidence.”
Upheld by the Second Circuit
His involvment in murder is no longer open to reasonable dispute.
If there is any good to come out of this "trial" would be that Demjanjuk's old age care is pretty much taken care of.
If the Germans are going to execute Demjanjuk, they must be hasty.
Correction, Sixth Circuit:
“The 6th U.S. Circuit appeals panel said the government has proved “through clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence” that Demjanjuk was a guard at the Sobibor extermination camp and at the Majdanek and Flossenbürg concentration camps, and a member of the SS-run Trawniki unit “dedicated to exploiting and exterminating” Jews in Poland. “
The question is was this guy a Sgt. Schultz walking a post or was he Major Hochstetter rounding up innocent civilians. Given that Israel’s highest court overturned his previous conviction, I tend think the guy was a Sgt. Schultz.
I agree about not defending him, but something is fishy. The sheer number of Germans in the death camp business, implies that incredible numbers of them are right back in their society. Their military kept meticulous records. If you were assigned there, it should be hard to hide.
Seems odd that they are still after this guy. I really dislike Nazis, and hate the way these threads can attract the “Stormfront” mentality types. But that said, if the ISRAELI justice system decided to let him go, that sure gets my attention.
Eyewitness identification is dicey 2 days later. 50 or 60 years get almost silly. I went to my 30th reunion and didnt recognize a few people i really should have.
The post to the damning information are on this very thread.
Way to show your agenda and lack of reading ability, Pat.
On December 22, 1971 at the age of 71, Erich Bauer received a PARDON from the West German government. But he was only the guy known as the “gasmeister” who operated the gas equipment at Sobibor.
He served some time,,, but a pardon? Something is up. And the US Courts are more trustworthy on holocaust issues than a court in Tel Aviv? I don’t buy it. Anyway, the issue in US courts was immigration and visa issues, not homicide.
Is that why (after sentencing him to death) Israel dropped all charges and set "the world's most-wanted Nazi war criminal" free?
The quarry for "Nazi hunters" like Zuroff must be getting rather sparse if someone like Demjanjuk is the world's most wanted.
“But that said, if the ISRAELI justice system decided to let him go, that sure gets my attention.”
I followed this case very closely in Israel, as my wife’s family had the joy of being in Polish camps, first with the Germans, then the Soviets -— they essentially walked to Israel.
He was not brought up on these charges in Israel for various technical legal reasons.
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