This bastard is #3 on the Weisenthal Center’s Top Ten Most Wanted Nazis.
Ivan ‘John’ Demjanjuk.
Born: April 3, 1920.
He is alive and under investigation in Poland.
Ivan participated in the mass murder of Jews in Sobibor & Majdanek death camps. After the war, he somehow landed as a resident of the United States. He was recently denaturalized and ordered deported (to bad it’s not to a death camp!).
I love when these sick people try to hide behind the innocence of their age. This is not a poor, old man worthy of our sympathy and respect. He is a ruthless murderer.
March 11, 2009 at 3:04 pm |
This nazi war criminel must be hanged!
Loosed to much time from the war and still alive…
April 6, 2009 at 8:54 pm |
20 years ago he was convicted in Israel after a full trial . Surpisingly the Israeli Supreme Court dismissed the testimonies of the few survivors and overturned the conviction. 20 years on the German Courts claim to have suffieincent evidence that he participated in the Genocide at Sobibor – evidence that was available to the Israeli Supreme Court. It seems that the Israeli Supreme Court has supremely failed to serve justice and let the few survivors and witnesses down badly.
April 14, 2009 at 7:10 pm |
18 or 89. He is a criminal and should pay for his crimes. We have enough scum in this country to deal with.
April 14, 2009 at 9:17 pm |
You all seem so sure of yourselves. What’s interesting is that we know eye witness testimony is only accurate 1/4 of the time. Also, doesn’t that tell you something, that the Israeli Supreme Court overturned the conviction! What makes you so sure this is the man? How many times does he have to be acquitted before you’ll accept he’s innocent?
April 14, 2009 at 10:54 pm |
I can’t believe that after the state of Germany executed so many innocent Jews in the 30s and 40s that people are willing to let another state execute the perpetrators. The death penalty is wrong… how on earth does hanging this guy help any one of the millions of murdered Jews?
Also, why are you so convinced he was a mass-murderer? I read your “Accusing Me?” post and it was very contradictory… you say that anyone who disagrees with you should prove it with evidence but you don’t seem to bother yourself. Are you using sources from 1988 because I’m using sources from 2009? If you really want to be a historian you should show yourself a bit more respect. You can’t just make a statement without citing a source. The fact you have no formal training is evident, you seem to be reasonably well read but you don’t know how to BE a historian.
The sources I have (bbc, telegraph, guardian, cnn, nyt, AP etc) all claim that he was on trial in Israel for murder in Treblinka as Ivan the Terrible – there was sufficient evidence to suggest that that man was someone else so the charges were dropped. He is currently wanted for being a guard at Sobibor… What makes you willing to state as fact with no sources that he not only committed murder but mass-murder? It’s mind-boggling to me how an “historian” can make such a claim.
I’m not trying to sound like a dick or anything but I think you have to be responsible… Please answer me as I’m really interested on your thoughts. Instead of just your opinion or speculation about Demjanjuk you could write what we DO know. My problem with the bio you’ve written is that you give no sources – yet your claims are at odds with what is widely reported. This to me seriously affects the credibility of the entire blog.
I’m not saying I think Demjanjuk’s innocent (I don’t) but I don’t think executing him is the answer and I think that all people are innocent until proven guilty and so far nothing has been proven. It’s great that he’s been found after all of these years but in my opinion he’s already gotten away with it… I hope for a fair and speedy trial and that he’s convicted and spends the rest of his life in prison – it’s just unfortunate that he’s so old and his “life” in prison wont be that long.
The Nazis took away the due process of law and fairness and executed who they pleased… Is this what you want too? We’re talking here about executing a man who hasn’t had a trial… this irony is unsettling
April 15, 2009 at 7:20 pm |
As much as I despise war criminals, I have to weigh in on the side of justice. A man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. I have little doubt that he will be convicted if tried, but the fact that the Supreme Court of Israel (no less) decided that this man wasn’t guilty of the crimes accused points out that the charges he were tried on were shaky.
Far from failing to serve justice, the Israeli Supreme court has upheld justice in not convicting a man to death for crimes he did not commit. It does not matter whether the man has committed other crimes, if he didn’t commit the crimes for which he was accused then it wouldn’t be true justice for him to have been found guilty.
May 12, 2009 at 8:31 am |
I think it is very good that one can talk to each other about this. I have to agree that it is a basic human right to have an objective court, judge an accused. Even if we are emotional over evils that have taken place we need to uphold an objective legal system (If we don’t we are no better than the Nazi’s that have done these terrible deeds, they had no regard for any rights, never mind human rights). I would rather let a guilty person go that having an innocent person in jail, but that is for a court to decide, with all the facts in front of them. We need to steer away from any “mob justice” and support proper legal systems.
May 12, 2009 at 2:14 pm |
WW2 has long passed. If they’d caught him a little earlier then he should have gone to trial. But he’s just an old man now and should be able to live the rest of his life out in peace. The Allied soldiers were no saints themselves.
May 12, 2009 at 8:35 pm |
I agree with Chris’s comment, executing him without due process is just what the Nazis did. They executed Jews because of what they thought Jews had done to them without proof…
June 9, 2009 at 1:20 pm |
The accusers of John Dmejanjuk need to make up their minds. First he was tried in Israel for warcrimes at Treblinka where he was deemed to have been Ivan the Terrible. It turns out that Ivan the terrible was an entirely different man and much taller. At the time of his first deportation the American government had hidden evidence that he was not Ivan the Terrible and let him be sentenced to death when they knew he was never at Treblinka.
When he was rightly released by the Israeli supreme court, I remember seeing some of the professional holocaust survivors screaming that as they had failed this time they would get him for something else. This dsiplay made feel quite sick as these people were only after hanging this man, guilty or not, by hook or by crook.
This charade is like a real life “les miserables”.
June 21, 2009 at 4:52 am |
There is more evidence against him: Documents from Germany that give him the same ID card number as the one from Soviet Union. A list that places him AWOL from guard duty at Sobibor. A postwar attempt to emigrate to Australia in which he lists that he was at Sobibor as a ‘driver’. The fact that he can’t seem to account for his whereabouts in 1942, and 1943. 18 witnesses.
July 1, 2009 at 3:50 am |
Correction: he’s in prison in Germany.
July 8, 2009 at 10:03 am |
First of all Demjanjuk WILL BE indicted for war crimes. When you try to follow history back you can see that he already HAS BEEN indicted, e. g. in Israel 1987 where he was sentenced to death. This judgement was revised in 1993 by Israel High Court.
So I may ask a question why Demjanjuk always is named as participator of war crimes on this web site. Any participation still is unproofed and because of that Demjanjuk has to be seen as innocent until a participation is stated by a judgement. This is an essential principle of demokratic constitution.
Don’t misunderstand: If Demjanjuk is guilty i hope he’ll be prosecuted. But anything else at this time is a prejudgment!
July 11, 2009 at 9:35 am |
1. Taken prisoner by the Nazis, mid 1942.
2. Chelm, area of eastern Poland. Also, see “Ozkow”, Paul Matia, 2002 Deportation Ruling
3. Majdanek, Sept 1942
4. Listed as going “Awol” 18 Jan 1943, Majdanek death camp
5. March 26 1943, Trawniki training camp for SS guards
6. March 27, 1943, Sobibor death camp until
7. Oct 3, 1943, Trawniki
8. Transferred to Flossenburg Concentration Camp, Germany.
9. Either Jan 1945 or April 1945, he goes to Regensburg camp, guarding prisoners.
Sorry for the confusion, that’s the best I can find out. He was a guard at both concentration camps and death camps. Case closed.