Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

More Crime & Courts Stories»

Demjanjuk Farce Is a Funny Kind of Justice

Prosecution seems to be more about German guilt than alleged war criminal's

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 18, 2009 5:19 AM CDT

(Newser) – The world's eyes will be on alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk when he stands trial in Germany next month, but this dying old man is a strange candidate to be the last Nazi to be tried, writes Scott Raab. Demjanjuk—regardless of whether he is guilty of serving at the Sobibor death camp when he was a POW—isn't a Nazi or even a German, writes Raab in Esquire, and it seems farcical that the Germans, of all people, are now making him the face of the Holocaust.

"As a Jew, my heart does not bleed for this old Ukrainian," stresses Raab, whose research took him to Israel, Germany, and the village where Demjanjuk was drafted into the Red Army as a teen. But the truth seems impossible to pin down, writes Raab, noting that Nazi-hunters who swore Demjanjuk was Ivan the Terrible at his trial in Israel will now swear he was somebody else. For justice to be as just as possible, Raab writes, it needs to be as close to truth as possible. "Anything else—anything less—dishonors every one of us, including the six million who died."

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

In this Feb. 28, 2005 file photo, John Demjanjuk arrives at the federal building in Cleveland for an immigration hearing. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

In this May 3, 2006 file photo, John Demjanjuk, right, is questioned by his attorney during a civil trial in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. (AP Photo/Plain Dealer, C.H. Pete Copeland, File)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

A Ukrainian clump of Red Army fodder, a dumb beast the likes of which the Nazis murdered by the millions, has been transmuted into a German official so that Germans may prosecute him for helping to murder Jews at a German death camp. - Scott Raab

Guilt and innocence, not to mention truth and justice, are beside the point in this case. The Germans did not bring Demjanjuk here to determine his guilt, but to assuage their own.
- Scott Raab

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Death Camp Sketches Published

Auschwitz Memorial Museum prints Birkenau inmate drawings

(NEWSER) - The Auschwitz Memorial Museum has published a collection of death camp sketches by a mystery inmate of Birkenau that was found stuffed in a bottle. The chilling pencil sketches of the camp, by a prisoner who signed them "MM," show children being torn from the arms of their parents, and a guard smoking a cigarette as gas chamber bodies are loaded onto a truck, reports Der Spiegel. "These sketches are the only work of art made in Birkenau that depict exterminations," said a museum spokesman. The sketches, made in 1943, were discovered four years later near the camp's crematorium by a former prisoner working as a watchman at the site. More»

Cops Raid Homes of 6 Ex-SS Soldiers

Germany probing 1944 massacre in occupied France

(NEWSER) - German police have raided the homes of six former SS soldiers suspected of having taken part in the worst massacre of civilians in Nazi-occupied France. A German war crimes prosecutor says the John Demjanjuk trial inspired him to reopen the investigation into the massacre of 642 men, women, and children in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane four days after the D-Day landings in 1944, Der Spiegel reports. More»

Germany Reopens Hundreds of Nazi Investigations

John Demjanjuk's conviction sets new precedent, say prosecutors

(NEWSER) - Now that John Demjanjuk has been convicted of war crimes, Germany has reopened investigations into hundreds of other former Nazi death camp guards, looking for ones who might share his profile. Demjanjuk's conviction sets a precedent that could allow others to be charged, prosecutors say, although they are waiting until his appeals process finishes to actually file charges. The investigations, however, have already begun, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center's head Nazi hunter will start tracking down war criminals in the next two months, the Guardian reports. More»

Neo-Nazi Town Home of 'Happy Holocaust' BBQ

Jamel's a favorite burg of right-wing fanatics

(NEWSER) - No one's laughing if it's "a joke." A VBS TV reporter out to discover how crazily right wing a neo-Nazi German town is stumbled upon an outdoor cooking grill emblazoned with the words "Happy Holocaust." The small town of Jamel in northeastern Germany is known as a place where Hitler salutes are sometimes spotted, where outsiders are chased away, and where strange shooting practices take place in the woods. At least 50% of the population supports neo-Nazis or the National Democratic Party. More»

Demjanjuk Convicted for Role in Nazi Death Camp

Retired Ohio autoworker sentenced to five years

(NEWSER) - John Demjanjuk, the retired Ohio autoworker charged with 28,060 counts of being an accessory to murder at a Nazi death camp, was convicted and sentenced today to five years in prison. Demjanjuk, a native of Ukraine, was accused of being a guard at Nazi-occupied Poland's Sobibor camp where thousands died. There was no evidence he committed a specific crime. The prosecution was based on the theory that if Demjanjuk was at the camp, he was a participant in the killing—the first time such a legal argument has been made in German courts. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Demjanjuk Farce Is a Funny Kind of Justice