John Demjanjuk

Iwan Demjanjuk , 1920, Dub Makarenzi , Kazatin subdistrict, Kiev Oblast , Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , now Ukraine ) is a retired auto worker who emigrated to the United States from Europe in 1951 . He was later accused of and tried for crimes against humanity, based on his being identified by Holocaust survivors in Israel as having been "Ivan the Terrible," a notorious SS guard at the Treblinka extermination camp during the period 1942 - 1943 who allegedly committed acts of extraordinarily savage violence against camp prisoners. Demjanjuk was drafted by the Soviet Army in 1940. He and his unit were taken prisoner by German forces in 1942. Demjanjuk's activity between the date of his capture and the end of the war remains unclear. It is what Demjanjuk was doing during this time that forms the basis for the charges that were later filed against him by the US Justice Department and for the war crimes trial in which he was the defendant in Israel. On November 14 , 1958 , Demjanjuk became a naturalized citizen of the United States . He and his wife, whom he met in a displaced persons camp, moved to Indiana with their daughter (they later had two more children) and then to Seven Hills, Ohio , where Demjanjuk became an engine mechanic. In August 1977 , the Justice Department submitted a request to the Northern District Court of Ohio that Demjanjuk's citizenship be revoked on the basis that Demjanjuk had allegedly concealed his involvement with Nazi death camps on his immigration application in 1951. On June 23 , 1981 , District Court Judge Frank Batisti ruled that Demjanjuk had lied on his application, that he had served as an SS guard at Treblinka and for a brief period at Sobibór , and that he had undergone training at the Trawniki SS training camp. In October 1983 , Israel issued an extradition request for Demjanjuk to stand trial on Israeli soil under the Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law of 1950. Demjanjuk was deported to Israel on February 28 , 1986 . He was put on trial between February 16 , 1987 and April 18 , 1988 . The prosecution claimed during the trial that Demjanjuk had been recruited into the Soviet army in 1940, and that he had fought against Germany until he was captured by German troops in the eastern Crimea in May 1942. Demjanjuk was then, according to prosecutors, brought to a German prisoner of war camp in Kulm in July 1942. Prosecutors claimed that Demjanjuk volunteered to collaborate with the Germans and was sent to the camp at Trawniki, where he was trained to guard prisoners and was given a firearm, a uniform, and an ID card with his photograph. Prosecutors based part of these allegations on the ID card, but defense attorneys countered that the card was forged by Soviet authorities to discredit Demjanjuk. The card was never conclusively established as identifying Demjanjuk as Ivan the Terrible. Demjanjuk himself testified during the trial in Israel that he was imprisoned in a camp in Chelmno until 1944 , when he was transferred to another camp in Austria , where he remained until he joined an anti-Soviet Russian military unit funded by the German goverment until the surrender of Germany to the Allies in 1945. In February 1988 , two Israeli judges sentenced Demjanjuk to death by hanging. Demjanjuk was placed in solitary confinement until August 1993 , when five Israeli Supreme Court judges ruled that there was not enough evidence to show that Demjanjuk was Ivan the Terrible. Their ruling was based partly on the written statements of 32 former guards and 5 former prisoners at Treblinka that Ivan the Terrible's surname was Marchenko, not Demjanjuk. Demjanjuk was released to return to the United States. In 1993 , the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Demjanjuk was a victim of prosecutorial misconduct , as federal prosecutors had deliberately withheld evidence , and his sentence was overturned. In February 1998 , Federal District Court Judge Paul Matia ruled that Demjanjuk's citizenship could be restored. On May 20 , 1999 , the Justice Department filed a new civil complaint against Demjanjuk. No mention was made in the new complaint of the previous allegations that Demjanjuk was "Ivan the Terrible." Instead, the complaint alleged that Demjanjuk served as a guard at the Sobibór and Majdanek camps in Poland and at the Flossenburg camp in Germany. It additionally accused Demjanjuk of being a member of an SS-run unit that took part in capturing nearly two million Jews in the General Government of Poland. Demjanjuk was put on trial again in 2001 , and in February 2002 , Matia ruled that Demjanjuk had not produced any credible evidence of his whereabouts during the war and that the Justice Department had proved its case against him. On May 1 , 2004 , a three judge panel of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Demjanjuk could be stripped of his US citizenship because the Justice Department had presented "clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence" of Demjanjuk's service in Nazi death camps. Demjanjuk vowed to appeal the ruling.

Others Soviet POWs Soviet urban residents Civilians targeted during anti-partisan warfare People with disabilities Romani people Polish leaders and intellectuals Homosexuals Jehovah's Witnesses John Demjanjuk (born Ivan Mykolayovych Demyanyuk ; ; April 3, 1920) is a retired auto worker and former United States citizen , who gained notoriety after being accused of Holocaust -related war crimes . His attorney is claiming that Demjanjuk is a scapegoat for German guilt over the Holocaust, stating that Germany "wants to be acquitted through this trial by finding people from other nations guilty." Born in the Soviet Union during the Polish–Soviet War (when territories in Ukraine quickly changed hands), Demjanjuk migrated to the United States in 1952. He was deported to Israel in 1986 and later sentenced to death there in 1988 for war crimes, based on his identification by Israeli Holocaust survivors as "Ivan the Terrible" , a notorious prisoner/guard (KAPO) at the Treblinka and Sobibor extermination camps during the period 1942–1943 who committed murder and acts of extraordinarily savage violence against camp prisoners. His conviction for crimes against humanity was later overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1993 due to a finding of reasonable doubt based on evidence suggesting that Demjanjuk was not "Ivan the Terrible" and had, in fact, been a guard at camps besides the one at Treblinka. After the trial, he was returned to Cleveland, Ohio . He eventually moved to nearby Seven Hills, Ohio . Demjanjuk was put on trial again in 2001 on charges that he had served as a guard at the Sobibór and Majdanek camps in occupied Poland and at the Flossenbürg camp in Germany. His deportation was again ordered in 2005, but he remained in the United States as no country would agree to accept him. On April 2, 2009, it was announced that Demjanjuk would be deported to Germany and would face trial there on charges of accessory to 29,000 counts of murder. On April 3, 2009, a judge ordered that Demjanjuk be given a temporary stay, pending a judicial decision on his newly filed (April 2) motion to reopen his deportation order, on the ground that deporting him would amount to torture under the applicable international convention. The stay was overturned on April 6. On April 14, 2009, immigration agents began Demjanjuk's deportation, removing him from his home in a wheelchair. He was scheduled to fly to Munich from Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, but the legal order was again reversed and another stay granted by the court. Supreme Court rejected Demjanjuk's appeal and on May 8, 2009, he was ordered to surrender to U.S. Immigration agents for deportation to Germany. On May 11, Demjanjuk left his Cleveland home by ambulance, and was taken to the airport, where he was deported by plane to Germany. He arrived there the next morning on May 12. On July 13, 2009, Demjanjuk was formally charged with 27,900 counts of acting as an accessory to murder, one for each person who died at Sobibor during the time he is accused of serving as a guard at the Nazi death camp. On 30 November 2009 Demjanjuk's trial, expected to last for several months, began in Munich . Chronology of the Demjanjuk case . Israel Recommends that Demjanjuk Be Released . The New York Times . Alleged Nazi guard released from custody . Demjanjuk ordered to surrender for deportation . Demjanjuk en route to Germany . Accused Nazi Arrives in Munich . The New York Times . John Demjanjuk war crimes trial begins in Munich at bbc.co.uk

Ukrainian guard at Nazi death camps John Demjanjuk (born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk ; ; 3 April 1920 – 17 March 2012) was a Ukrainian-American accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out while serving as a guard at Nazi extermination camps during World War II . Legal cases concerning his participation in the Holocaust began during the 1970s and continued until his death in 2012. During that time, Demjanjuk's trials attracted global media attention. Born in 1920 in Soviet Ukraine , Demjanjuk was conscripted into the Soviet Red Army in 1940. He fought in World War II and was taken prisoner by the Germans in the Spring of 1942. He served as a guard at the Sobibor extermination camp , and at least two concentration camps. In 1952, he emigrated from West Germany to the United States. He took up residence in Seven Hills, Ohio , where he worked in an auto factory until his retirement. In August 1977, Demjanjuk was accused of having been a Trawniki man , and based on eyewitness testimony by Holocaust survivors , he was identified as the notorious and savagely violent Treblinka extermination camp guard " Ivan the Terrible ". These accusations culminated in Demjanjuk's extradition to Israel in 1986. In 1988, Demjanjuk was convicted and sentenced to death. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial, claiming that it was a case of mistaken identity, and in 1993 the verdict was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court , based on new evidence that cast reasonable doubt over the identity of "Ivan the Terrible". Although the judges agreed that there was sufficient evidence to show that Demjanjuk had served at Sobibor, Israel declined to prosecute, and in September 1993 Demjanjuk returned to Ohio. In 1999, US prosecutors again sought to deport Demjanjuk for having been a concentration camp guard, and his citizenship was revoked in 2002. In 2009, Germany requested his extradition for over 27,900 counts of acting as an accessory to murder: one for each person killed at Sobibor during the time he was alleged to have served as a guard there. He was deported from the US to Germany in that same year. On 12 May 2011, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. According to historian Lawrence Douglas , in spite of serious missteps along the way, the German verdict brought the case "to a worthy and just conclusion". After the conviction, Demjanjuk was released pending appeal. He lived at a German nursing home in Bad Feilnbach , where he died on 17 March 2012. Having died before a final judgment on his appeal could be issued, by German law Demjanjuk remains technically innocent.

Ukrainian guard at Nazi death camps (1920–2012) John Demjanjuk (born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk ; ; 3 April 1920 – 17 March 2012) was a Ukrainian-American who served as a Trawniki man and Nazi camp guard at Sobibor extermination camp , Majdanek , and Flossenbürg . Demjanjuk became the center of global media attention in the 1980s, when he was tried and convicted in Israel after being misidentified as Ivan the Terrible , a notoriously cruel watchman at Treblinka extermination camp . In 1993 the verdict was overturned. Shortly before his death, he was tried and convicted in the Federal Republic of Germany as an accessory to the 28,060 murders that occurred during his service at Sobibor. Born in Soviet Ukraine , Demjanjuk survived the Holodomor as a child and was conscripted into the Red Army in 1940. He fought in World War II and was taken prisoner by the Germans in spring 1942. He was recruited by the Germans and trained at Trawniki concentration camp , going on to serve at Sobibor extermination camp and at least two concentration camps. After the war he married a woman he met in a West German displaced persons camp, and emigrated with her and their daughter to the United States. They settled in Seven Hills, Ohio , where he worked in an auto factory and raised three children. Demjanjuk became a US citizen in 1958. In August 1977, Demjanjuk was accused of having been a Trawniki man. Based on eyewitness testimony by Holocaust survivors in Israel, he was misidentified as the notorious Ivan the Terrible from Treblinka. Demjanjuk was extradited to Israel in 1986 for trial. In 1988, Demjanjuk was convicted and sentenced to death. He maintained his innocence, claiming that it was a case of mistaken identity. In 1993 the verdict was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court , based on new evidence that cast reasonable doubt over his identity as Ivan the Terrible. Although the judges agreed that there was sufficient evidence to show that Demjanjuk had served at Sobibor, Israel declined to prosecute. In September 1993 Demjanjuk was allowed to return to Ohio. In 1999, US prosecutors again sought to deport Demjanjuk for having been a concentration camp guard, and his citizenship was revoked in 2002. In 2009, Germany requested his extradition for over 27,900 counts of acting as an accessory to murder: one for each person killed at Sobibor during the time when he was alleged to have served there as a guard. He was deported from the US to Germany in that same year. On 12 May 2011, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. According to legal scholar Lawrence Douglas , in spite of serious missteps along the way, the German verdict brought the case "to a worthy and just conclusion." After the conviction, Demjanjuk was released pending appeal. He lived at a German nursing home in Bad Feilnbach , where he died on 17 March 2012. Having died before a final judgment on his appeal could be issued, under German law, Demjanjuk remains technically innocent. In January 2020, a photograph album by Sobibor guard Johann Niemann was made public; some historians have suggested that a guard who appears in two photos may have been Demjanjuk. This is not to suggest that Demjanjuk's time at Sobibor can be subject to reasonable doubt; Demjanjuk's service as a Sobibor Wachmann remains irrefutable, particularly when triangulated with the evidence of his service at Majdanek and Flossenbürg. The point is that the Majdanek and Flossenbürg deployments are better documented, as they include details such as Demjanjuk's punishment for indulging his appetite for "salt and onions" during a typhus lockdown at Majdanek, and the serial numbers of his rifle and bayonet at Flossenbürg." Sturcke, James (12 May 2009).

Ukrainian guard at Nazi death camps (1920–2012) In this name that follows East Slavic naming customs , the patronymic is Mykolaiovych and the family name is Demjanjuk . John Demjanjuk ( Ukrainian : Джон Дем'янюк ), born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk ( Ukrainian : Іван Миколайович Дем'янюк ), was a Trawniki and Nazi camp guard at Sobibor extermination camp , Majdanek , and Flossenbürg . Demjanjuk became the center of global media attention in the 1980s, when he was tried and convicted in Israel after being identified as " Ivan the Terrible ", a notoriously cruel watchman at Treblinka extermination camp . In 1993, the verdict was overturned. Shortly before his death, he was tried and convicted in the Federal Republic of Germany as an accessory to the 28,060 murders that occurred during his service at Sobibor. Born in Soviet Ukraine , Demjanjuk was conscripted into the Red Army in 1940. He fought in World War II and was taken prisoner by the Germans in spring 1942, becoming a Trawniki collaborator . After training, he served at Sobibor extermination camp and at least two concentration camps. After the war, he married a woman he met in a West German displaced persons camp, and emigrated with her and their daughter to the United States. They settled in Seven Hills, Ohio , where he worked in an auto factory and raised three children. Demjanjuk became a US citizen in 1958. In 1977, Demjanjuk was accused of war crimes. Based on eyewitness testimony by Holocaust survivors in Israel, he was identified as the notorious Ivan the Terrible from Treblinka. Demjanjuk was extradited to Israel in 1986 for trial. In 1988, Demjanjuk was convicted and sentenced to death. He maintained his innocence, claiming that it was a case of mistaken identity . In 1993, the verdict was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court , based on new evidence that cast reasonable doubt over his identity as Ivan the Terrible. Although the judges agreed there was sufficient evidence to show that Demjanjuk had served at Sobibor, Israel declined to prosecute. In September 1993, Demjanjuk was allowed to return to Ohio. In 1999, US prosecutors again sought to deport Demjanjuk for having been a concentration camp guard, and his citizenship was revoked in 2002. In 2009, Germany requested his extradition for over 27,900 counts of acting as an accessory to murder , one for each person killed at Sobibor during the time when he was alleged to have served there as a guard. He was deported from the US to Germany in that same year. In 2011, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. According to legal scholar Lawrence Douglas , in spite of serious missteps along the way, the German verdict brought the case "to a worthy and just conclusion". After the conviction, Demjanjuk was released pending appeal. He lived at a German nursing home in Bad Feilnbach , where he died in 2012. Having died before a final judgment on his appeal could be issued, Demjanjuk remains technically innocent under German law. In 2020, a photograph album by Sobibor guard Johann Niemann was made public; some historians have suggested that a guard who appears in two photos may have been Demjanjuk. This is not to suggest that Demjanjuk's time at Sobibor can be subject to reasonable doubt; Demjanjuk's service as a Sobibor Wachmann remains irrefutable, particularly when triangulated with the evidence of his service at Majdanek and Flossenbürg. The point is that the Majdanek and Flossenbürg deployments are better documented, as they include details such as Demjanjuk's punishment for indulging his appetite for 'salt and onions' during a typhus lockdown at Majdanek, and the serial numbers of his rifle and bayonet at Flossenbürg." Sturcke, James (12 May 2009).