1988: A LOOK BACK

Case of John Demjanjuk

The John Demjanjuk case continued to make headlines in 1988. In January the trial reconvened for one day to allow the defense to present information about an Alfred Billitz, who, according to the defense, was the real "Ivan the Terrible" of Treblinka. Also submitted was a list of 20 survivors of that death camp who could not identity the defendant.

The prosecution gave its summation in late January and early February. The defense summed up its case in February.

In March, the three-judge panel hearing the case decided to reopen the trial upon the presentation of new evidence by the defense. The defense then presented a detailed description of the testimonies of nearly 40 survivors of Treblinka who were interviewed by the U.S. Office of Special Investigations, noting that there are major discrepancies and memory lapses. In addition, the defense presented the testimony of a Soviet citizen, Ihnat Danylchenko, who placed Mr. Demjanjuk at Sobibor, Flossenberg and Regensburg.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the John Demjanjuk Defense Fund filed suit on April 8 against the U.S. government, accusing officials of perpetrating fraud on U.S. courts through non-disclosure of exculpatory evidence and other means. The suit sought to overturn the denaturalization of Mr. Demjanjuk, as well as a declaration that findings regarding his deportability and extraditability are void.

On April 18, the Israeli court announced its verdict: guilty. On April 25, Mr. Demjanjuk wag sentenced to death for crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes against a persecuted people.

Mr. Demjanjuk, prior to the sentencing, told the court: "I am innocent, innocent, innocent. God is my witness." He added, "I am not 'Ivan the Terrible,' and the most just witness to this is God."

The next development in the strange case of John Demjanjuk came in a notice of indictment dated May 7 from the Civil and Criminal Court of Trieste, Italy. The document said Mr. Demjanjuk was suspected of committing "voluntary and continuous aggravated homicide" in Trieste between 1943 and 1945.

On June 30 lawyers for Mr. Demjanjuk filed an appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court. The Supreme Court was to begin hearing the appeal on December 5.

A new lawyer joined the defense team in September: Dov Eitan, a retired Israeli district court judge with 17 years' experience.

While the defense was preparing its appeal, the Demjanjuk Defense Fund, along with the Ukrainian National Center: History and Information Network (UNCHAIN), held a series of public meetings in the United States and Canada aimed at raising badly needed funds for the defense - some $500,000 was needed, according to the Demjanjuk family spokesperson and chairman of the defense fund, Ed Nishnic.

Then, in October, the defense charged that Israeli prosecutors had obstructed justice by pressuring a witness not to testify in the case. Richard Glazar, a Treblinka survivor now living in Switzerland, told William Wolf, a Phoenix attorney who has been assisting the defense, "I promised to the general attorney who investigated me, the Israeli attorney, not to talk to anybody as long as the trial is not closed." Mr. Demjanjuk's lawyers asked that both the defense and prosecution be allowed to question Mr. Glazar before a court in Switzerland.

On November 29, the world was shocked to hear of the apparent suicide of Mr. Eitan who was to begin presenting Mr. Demjanjuk's appeal to the Supreme Court beginning on December 5. The attorney apparently jumped from a 15th floor window of an office-hotel complex. Mr. Eitan, 53, was to have presented between 40 and 60 percent of the appeal; Israeli police quickly ruled the death a suicide, but others, including Mr. Nishnic, were not persuaded. He called Mr. Eitan's death an "alleged suicide."

Two days later, at Mr. Eitan's funeral, Mr. Demjanjuk's first Israeli attorney, Yoram Sheftel, had acid thrown in his face by a 70-year-old Holocaust survivor. One of Mr. Sheftel's eyes was injured in the attack.

Due to the death of Mr. Eitan Israeli Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar announced that the Demjanjuk appeal would be postponed until May 4, 1989.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 25, 1988, No. 52, Vol. LVI

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