Germany Charges Accused Nazi Guard

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/07/13/world/international-germany-demjanjuk.html?_r=1&hp

Germany Charges Accused Nazi Guard

By REUTERS
Published: July 13, 2009


BERLIN, July 13 (Reuters) - German prosecutors have charged suspected Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk with helping to kill about 28,000 Jews in World War Two, in what is expected to be one of Germany's last major Nazi-era war crimes cases.

The 89-year old Demjanjuk, who has been held in a jail in southern Germany since May 12 after he was deported from the United States, will be tried at a court in Munich.

The court, announcing the charges on Monday, could not give details on when the trial would take place.

Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk, who denies any role in the Holocaust, was deemed fit by medical experts to stand trial despite protestations from his family that he is too frail.

Demjanjuk tops the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of its 10 most-wanted suspected war criminals. They say he pushed men, women and children into gas chambers at the Sobibor death camp in what is today Poland.

Key dates in the case of John Demjanjuk:
_ 1920: Born in Ukraine.
_ 1942: Captured by German forces while serving in the Soviet Red Army.
_ 1952: Demjanjuk emigrates to United States, claims to have spent much of World War II in a German prisoner of war camp. Gains U.S. citizenship in 1958.
_ 1977: Justice Department seeks to revoke U.S. citizenship, alleging Demjanjuk hid past as Nazi death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible."
_ 1981: Citizenship revoked.
_ 1986: Extradited to Israel for trial over his alleged role at Treblinka.
_ 1988: Demjanjuk sentenced to death after being found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
_ 1993: Israel's Supreme Court rules 5-0 that Demjanjuk was not "Ivan the Terrible."
_ 1998: Regains U.S. citizenship.
_ 1999: U.S. Justice Dept. files civil complaint against Demjanjuk claiming he served as a guard at the Sobibor and Majdanek camps in occupied Poland and of being a member of an SS unit.
_ 2002: Demjanjuk's U.S. citizenship stripped for second time.
_ 2005: U.S. immigration judge says Demjanjuk can be deported to Germany, Poland or Ukraine.
_ March 11, 2009: German prosecutors issue arrest against Demjanjuk accusing of 29,000 counts of accessory to murder and say they will seek deportation from U.S.
_ March 24, 2009: U.S. officials confirm they've asked Germany for travel documents needed to deport Demjanjuk.
_ April 14, 2009: Immigration officers remove Demjanjuk from his home to federal custody in Cleveland; 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals grants emergency stay of deportation and federal immigration authorities release Demjanjuk from custody.
_ May 1, 2009: 6th Circuit revokes emergency stay, denies additional stay of deportation.
_ May 7, 2009: U.S. Supreme Court judge decides not to hear Demjanjuk's appeal, clearing way for deportation to Germany.
_ May 8, 2009: Immigration officials serve Demjanjuk notice to surrender.
_ May 11, 2009: Berlin court rejects appeal seeking to stop deportation; Demjanjuk leaves home by ambulance and is deported to Germany from a Cleveland airport.
_ May 12, 2009: Demjanjuk arrives in Munich and is transferred to Stadelheim prison where a judge reads his arrest warrant.
_ July 3, 2009: Demjanjuk deemed fit to stand trial though his time in court must not exceed two 90-minute sessions daily.
_ July 13, 2009: Prosecutors formally charge Demjanjuk with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder.
SOURCE: Associated Press reporting, files
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

different conclusion.

I'm not so sure what is gained when trials take place half a century after the crime takes place. Does he have any ill-gotten gains that can be taken to compensate remaining victims? :shrug: Talk about closing the barn door after the old grey mare has arrived at the glue factory. Oh, I know! Lawyers get to bill more hours.