Ohioan Charged in 29K Nazi Camp Deaths

A retired Ohio autoworker born in Ukraine is facing charges in the murder of 29,000 Jews during World War II, the AP reports. German authorities allege John Demjanjuk was a guard at the Sobibor concentration camp in Poland between March and September 1943. Demjanjuk, 88, maintains his innocence. He says he fought with the Russian army and was captured by the Germans in 1942.

Demjanjuk, who emigrated to the US in 1952, was extradited to Israel in 1986 and spent 7 years in prison there. He was released when authorities realized he was not the former Nazi guard they thought he was. The Germans say they cooperated with the US Justice Department to confirm Demjanjuk’s identity but were unsure if the US would deport him. (More Ohio stories.)