Demjanjuk, John fr

Country of proceedings: Germany, Israel, United-States
Context of crimes: World War II (Poland)
Date: 1981 - present
Keywords: War crimes (murder), judicial cooperation (extradition)

Prosecution in Israel

Criminal proceedings
25-04-1988 - Jerusalem District Court
18-08-1993 - Israel Supreme Court (Summary)

Related extradition proceedings (US)
31-10-1985 - Demjanjuk v. Petrovsky, 776 F.2d 571 (6th Cir. 1985)
17-11-1993 - Demjanjuk v. Petrovsky, 10 F.3d 338 (6th Cir. 1993)

Prosecution in Germany

Criminal proceedings
11-03-2009 - Arrest Warrant (High Court of Munich)

Related extradition proceedings (US and Germany) (in English, and in German)
30-01-2008 - Demjanjuk v. Mukasey
19-05-2008 - US Supreme Court (certiorary denied)
14-04-2009 - US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit (stay of deportation)
08-07-2009 - Bundesverfassungsgericht (appeal denied)
21-10-2009 - Bundesverfassungsgericht (appeal denied)

Presentation of the case
John Demjanjuk is a former auto worker from Ukraine who immigrated to the United States in 1951, becoming a US citizen in 1958. Demjanjuk is accused of being an SS camp guard at Sobibor concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1943.

Trial in Israel
In June 1981 Demjanjuk’s US citizenship was revoked after he was found to have lied on his immigration application, the District Court ruling that Demjanjuk had served as an SS guard at Treblinka and Sobibor concentration camps. Following an extradition request and a US Court of Appeals ruling on 31 October 1985, Demjanjuk was extradited to Israel in 1986 to face charges including crimes against humanity and crimes under the Israeli Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law. In 1988 he was convicted and sentenced to death by the Jerusalem District Court after witnesses identified him as ‘Ivan the Terrible’. Demjanjuk appealed the verdict, arguing that the prosecution had mistaken his identity and claiming he was a prisoner-of-war not a guard. On 18 August 1993, the Supreme Court of Israel overturned the conviction, but found that Demjanjuk had served as an SS Nazi prison guard at Sobibor, and was responsible for crimes committed there. These findings notwithstanding, the Supreme Court ruled that he would be unable to properly defend himself since much of the trial had revolved around the question of his identity as ‘Ivan the Terrible’. Demjanjuk was returned to the US and his citizenship restored after the Court of Appeals ruled that the prosecution had failed to disclose exculpatory evidence during the extradition proceedings.

Deportation proceedings
In 2001 Demjanjuk was again put on trial in the US, with his citizenship revoked for the second time in 2002 by a US District Court which ruled there was reliable evidence that he had served as an SS guard at Sobibor and other concentration camps. His appeal against the decision was rejected, and on 28 December 2005 an immigration judge ruled that Demjanjuk should be deported back to Ukraine. On 30 January 2008, the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed a December 2006 decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals upholding the immigration order. In the final case of a long appeals process concerning the deportation order, the US Supreme Court denied Demjanjuk’s application for certiorari on 19 May 2008.

Trial in Germany
One month later, Germany announced its intention to seek Demjanjuk’s extradition to try him for his alleged role in the Holocaust. On 11 March 2009, an arrest warrant was issued by the High Court of Munich charging Demjanjuk with 29,000 counts of accessory to murder at Sobibor camp where 260,000 people were executed in gas chambers. The German authorities announced on 2 April 2009 that Demjanjuk would be extradited to face these charges, but on the same day the 89-year-old filed a motion in a US immigration court to reopen the case of the removal order, asking for a stay on the order pending the decision. The following day, Judge Wayne Iskra granted a temporary stay of the proceedings on the grounds that deporting him would constitute torture, but on 6 April 2009 Judge Iskra reversed his stay, ruling that it had been ordered in error and with no jurisdiction since the motion to reopen the case should have been filed with the Board of Immigration. After re-filing the motion, the Board of Appeals denied his motion to stay the proceedings four days later.

On 14 April 2009, immigration officials began procedures for Demjanjuk’s deportation to Germany, but after his son filed a last-minute motion, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals once again granted a stay in his deportation. On 16 April, the Board of Immigration denied Demjanjuk’s motion to reopen the case. John Demjanjuk was finally deported to Germany on 12 May 2009. On 7 July 2009, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Germany's Constitutional Court) rejected an attempt by John Demjanjuk to challenge his recent deportation from the United States to Munich. Germany's highest Court ruled that Demjanjuk failed to provide sufficient evidence that his constitutional rights had been violated. In October 2009, the Bundesverfassungsgericht rejected another appeal by Demjanjuk, upholding the Decision of the Munich Regional Court that he is fit to stand trial. Demjanjuk's trial commenced on 30 November 2009.

Related cases
Other World War II trials