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[JimH]

I've followed the news about John (Ivan) Demjanjuk, an old Ukrainian man who has lived in the United States for most of his life.  He has been accused of being a guard in a Nazi death camp.  A year or so ago, he was finally extradited from the U.S. to Germany to face trial.

An Israeli web site report:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1131915.html

It is impossibly difficult to unravel the truth so many years after the crime.  If the charges are true, he deserves a harsh end to his life.  I've followed it enough to make me wonder if it is true.

I read a book a few years ago, called "Stones from the River" by Ursula Hegge.  It was about the rise of the Nazi's in the late 1930's and early 1940's told from the point of view of a child.  The brilliant twist to the story was that the child was a "dwarf" and was subjected to the ridicule and predjudice of her peers.  It painted a picture of her small town that made the origin of the dark side very unclear but understandable.

I hope that Demjanjuk gets a fair trial, if such a thing is possible in his circumstance.  I would not want to be a juror.

[KingSparta]

I am known for no compassion.

Q. How can you have a fair trial 60 or so years after the fact, many of the people are dead, and the living have a prefixed agenda.

During the times in question, you either do it (kill, torture, etc) or you will be killed.

I Would Also Like To Know What He Has Done And Lived His Life Since Then?

If he is guilty I would prefer to see him to get life.

Also If I Am Not Mistaken Germany Does Not Have The Death Penalty, but I am not sure about that.

[JimH]

How can you have a fair trial 60 or so years after the fact, many of the people are dead, and the living have a prefixed agenda?

That was exactly my thought.  Part of the evidence against him was his identification by witnesses in a photo taken forty years earlier.  I don't look anything like I did forty years ago.  I could only guess at my sisters' photos from that period.

Here's the wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Demjanjuk

He worked in a Ford plant in Ohio for a couple of decades.

If he's guilty, he deserves all the misery he has suffered.  If he's not, it's a nightmare.

It just underlines how difficult it is to know the truth about anyone.

[gappie]

the trail is ofcourse also hot here. first: indeed king, the dead penalty does not excist here, but i doubt if that is interesting in this case, i doubt if he will hold it to the end.
but this trial is not falling out of the air after 60 years, the file is huge and the trail goes back a long time. im curious how it will develop.

but besides that i do not really pity the guy. i mean, even when he says he is who he is, his records as a nazi were not to be proud of. and more so, he did made up his history and until recently faked part of his illnesses, as is also clear in the wiki link. the fact that he is in court now is also caused by the webs of lies this guy spun, if he is Demjanjuk or not. and at the end of his life he is facing the consequences of his choises, he is trailed again, 'innocent' of the crimes he in accused of or not. he gets a fair trial. but i also think the trial is not only about justice, but also has a symbolic value. but that happens more often with trials.

 
gab

[hit_ny]

He has been accused of being a guard in a Nazi death camp.  A year or so ago, he was finally extradited from the U.S. to Germany to face trial.

I got a flashback when i recognised the name as I remembered the news broadcast in the mid 80s that broke the news when he was first charged. His last name somehow just stuck in my mind.

I've followed it enough to make me wonder if it is true.

Part of the evidence against him was his identification by witnesses in a photo taken forty years earlier.

Is the remainder [of the evidence] more clinching ?

[gappie]

are you still following the process, jim? its getting interesting now.

 
gab

[JimH]

I haven't.  I'll check.

[gappie]

for me the interesting thing is that it is getting above the case demjanjuk. if he was only wrong, or really guilty of what he is accused of is just a side note (how much interesting it would be if he would talk). the context is getting much bigger.

a pity it gets lost in the daily news to much, even over here.

 
gab

[Lasse_Lus]

5 years

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13384830
http://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/politik/article13369286/Demjanjuk-zu-fuenf-Jahren-Haft-verurteilt-und-freigelassen.html

[rjm]

Combine a hyperinflation that wipes out your family's savings, a depression that keeps you hungry and unemployed, a charismatic demagogue that blames everything on a visible and irritating minority, and any one of us could be charged with those crimes.