War Crimes Trail Starts in Germany!

[Jonny]

Monday was the start of what some say the last Nazi war crimes trial, John Demjanjuk(89) a Ukrainian who was a member of the Russian Army supposedly was captured by the Germans then volunteered to be a Camp Guard in Sobibor Camp in Russia.



At the begining of the year a document-ID that matches his name links him to Sobibor Camp.



The charge is :

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.

He could be sentenced with 15 years imprisonment in Münich in the next few months.

He denies being a camp guard at Sobibor.

He was deported to Israel in 1986 and later sentenced to death there in 1988 for war crimes during the years 1942-1943, His conviction of war crimes was later overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1993 due to a finding of reasonable doubt based on evidence suggesting that Demjanjuk had in fact, been a guard at camps besides the one at Treblinka and that it was a case of mistaken identity.



On Monday he was brought in via a Wheel Chair and had his eyes shut, The German Prosecution had seen footage of him walking a few days before and the case was cleared to start.



The German Prosecution team have come under fire from Mr Demjanjuks Lawyer after questions of the legality of the case in Germany due to the Crimes he is charged with did not happen in Germany nor was he of German Origin. Moreover the fact that Mr Demjanjuk is sufferering Leucemia and that he is unfit for the trial They also stated that he would not lasteven one year if he will have to serve the 15 years.
But the Prosecution team stated they have sufficient evidence.

A Testimony will come from the interrogation statements of a former guard called Ignat Danilchenko, who claimed Demjanjuk was an "enthusiastic" guard at Sobibor.

Also a testimony from Thomas Blatt a 92 year old Sobibor Survivor.

So what would happen him if he is aquitted, he will spend the rest of his life in a German Home for the elderly on German Tax money.

His son speaks out when he was deported.





Regards

Jb

[Gren-Schell]

It cracked me up when I saw the news. Scene 1 was the accused in the back of a police van laughing and joking with officers. Scene 2; wheeled into the court room, complete with dribble and monged face. What a joke. The t#at must be laughing under that hat

[Irland-redaktion]

.

[Peter Bauer]

Nevertheless, I personally find this somewhat of a farce. I mean, 27 900 counts of acting as an accessory to murder, and he was just a regular guard. I just find it silly to put all the blame on him. But then again, Germans are eager to show that they are sorry so I guess one has to take the fall for the others.

[JDR]

I read a book on Treblinka from an eye witness accounts etc. one part was telling the story about the attempted escape of the sonderkommandos and that they killed a guard caled Ivan the terrible while escaping. Same man

[Hans Gowert]

if he isnt german, and the crimes wernt commited in germany, how can be be prosecuted under german law ?

[West-Front]

I read a book on Treblinka from an eye witness accounts etc. one part was telling the story about the attempted escape of the sonderkommandos and that they killed a guard caled Ivan the terrible while escaping. Same man

At Demjanjuk's 1993 Supreme Court appeal, it became clear from the testimonies of Treblinka guards who had been tried and executed by the former Soviet Union in the 1940s, 50s and 60s - evidence that the FSU had previously declined to make available - that Treblinka's "Ivan" was a man named Ivan Marchenko, older and darker-haired than Demjanjuk, and scarred on one cheek. John Demjanjuk was not "Ivan the Terrible." In the memorable words of Efraim Zuroff, the Nazi-hunter who heads the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Israel office, however, "He was another terrible Ivan."

if he isnt german, and the crimes wernt commited in germany, how can be be prosecuted under german law ?

The so-called "lowest-ranked person to go on trial for Nazi war crimes" is facing justice there (Germany) because almost 2,000 of his alleged victims were German Jews.

http://www.jpost.com

http://holocaust-info.dk/sobibor/sobibor_personnel.htm
Sobibor - The Forgotten Revolt
by Thomas Blatt
ISBN 0-9649442-0-0.

[Hans Gowert]

thai fisherman were jailed for 25years each for killing a british man if i remember rightly, tried and sentanced over there and not here.

So is there special law for nazi war crimes that must be tried and sentenced in germany no matter who or where u are ? what about nazi war crimes against the poles , are they tried in poland ?

this isnt a rant, but questions as i do not know.

[martin12ss]

You may well find that the argument goes like this. Most of Europe game under the guardianship of the occupying power. Thus the setting up of the camps by the German state was done under the powers imposed by the German state.

[Hans Gowert]

so because it was under german occupation, it still comes under german law ? right got ya.

[dbloge]

this wont be the last of the war crimes trials.....they will never end.......germany will always be guilty......until they say enough



Dieter

[Hans Gowert]

its a shame so many countrys have been let off

[les hearn]

is it not a case of european laws now

as said before we signed up...soon the euro courts can take us from here and try us in other euro countrys

[Tychsen]

89 is an extreme age to put anyone on trial , I have to wonder what the gain is - he will meet his make soon enough if he is guilty.

JB what was the source for the openning post ?

[Jonny]

89 is an extreme age to put anyone on trial , I have to wonder what the gain is - he will meet his make soon enough if he is guilty.

JB what was the source for the openning post ?

What do you mean source? I have worte It after reading the Wiki on him and watching RT special on it...

Regards

Jonny