FACES AND PLACES: U.S. still harassing Demjanjuk family (07/07/96)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

U.S. still harassing Demjanjuk family

Attorney General Janet Reno is determined to deport John Demjanjuk no matter what, no matter where.

Never mind that on November 17, 1993, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled that as early as 1978 or 1979 the Office of Special Investigations had information that John Demjanjuk was not "Ivan the Terrible" of Treblinka and that the "OSI attorneys acted with reckless disregard for their duty to the court and their discovery obligations in failing to disclose at least three sets of documents in their possession before the proceedings against Demjanjuk ever reached trial."

Who cares that the same court ruled "that OSI attorneys acted with reckless disregard for the truth and for the government's obligation to take no steps that prevent an adversary from presenting his case fully and fairly..."

So what if the court vacated the same court's earlier extradition ruling "on the ground that the judgments were wrongly procured as a result of prosecutorial misconduct that constituted fraud on the court."

Realizing that she can no longer extradite Mr. Demjanjuk, Ms. Reno just wants him out of the country, now. According to J. Douglas Wilson, an attorney in the Justice Department's criminal appeals section, the OSI still believes that Mr. Demjanjuk was at Trawniki where he was trained to be a Nazi death camp guard. The evidence? The Trawniki identification card. "That card is as good as gold," Mr. Wilson recently argued in an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "It's probably the most examined document of the 20th century, and no one's laid a glove on it all that time."

Right. No one except such forensics experts as Dr. Julius Grant, the renowned Briton who proved that the Stern magazine Hitler diaries were a fake, William Flynn, chief documents examiner for the State of Arizona, who uncovered a series of documents fraudulently attributed to Mormon leaders, and Willem Wagenaar, famed Dutch psychologist and expert on forensic identification who authored "Identifying Ivan: A Case Study in Legal Psychology." All of them not only "laid a glove" on the card, but provided evidence that it was a crude forgery.

Perhaps the most interesting segment of the 6th Circuit Court's ruling was the belief of the three judges that the fraud was politically motivated. Having examined OSI internal memos in which the case, among other things, was defined as a "political hot potato" that if lost "will raise political problems for us all, including the attorney general," the court then concluded: "It is obvious from the record that the prevailing mind-set at OSI was that the office must try to please and maintain very close relations with various interest groups because their continued existence depended on it."

And we all know what groups were most interested in the continued existence of OSI. Even today the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League are unwilling to even discuss the disbanding of OSI.

And so it continues. Even though harassment of the Demjanjuk family by various militant Jews has all but ceased, Janet Reno and her gang are still pursuing the family. It was 20 years ago, in August of 1976, that the first allegations against Mr. Demjanjuk were made.

How much can any family endure - even one as strong and as resilient as the Demjanjuks? Ed Nishnic, Mr. Demjanjuk's son-in-law, put his career on hold for more than a decade in order to defend his wife's father. Why? Because he didn't want his children growing up thinking that their grandfather was a Nazi war criminal. Today, Ed is trying to pick up the pieces of his life and to get his business going again in order to get out of debt. But the United States Justice Department won't let him.

Johnny Jr. had to leave school in order to fight on his father's behalf. He quickly grew into manhood during the tribulations he had to face. He, too, is trying to pick up the pieces, to finish his education, and to start his own family. But the United States Justice Department won't let him.

The same holds true for Mrs. Demjanjuk and her daughters, all of whom suffered unbelievable agony during their 20-year ordeal. The United States Justice Department won't give them peace. I know of no other civil case in the history of our nation that has been pursued so relentlessly and so ruthlessly by our government. With unlimited funds and total disregard for the law, the OSI has become a rogue organization within government.

At present, the OSI is waiting to make its next move. I called them during the week and was informed that a John Russell (202-616-2771) of the public affairs office was handling all questions regarding the Demjanjuk debacle. When I called, I learned that Mr. Russell was on leave and that Joe Krovisky (202-616-2771) was taking his calls. I succeeded in reaching him after trying repeatedly. He informed me that the OSI is waiting for the Cleveland court that denaturalized Mr. Demjanjuk to determine the validity of that denaturalization in view of the new evidence.

The Demjanjuk family is receiving some solace from Yoram Sheftel, who just completed a four-city tour promoting the newly published American edition of his book "Defending Ivan the Terrible: The Conspiracy to Convict John Demjanjuk." The book is accurate and pulls no punches. In Chicago, he was hosted by the Ukrainian American Justice Committee, which presented him with a Humanitarian Award. Some 200 Ukrainians attended his presentation. Later he appeared on "Ed and Ty," a popular local talk show, where he handled himself and all of the callers superbly.

Although Mr. Sheftel's book should be available in book stores by now, some stores may not have it for a variety of reasons. Readers who have problems obtaining the book should write to the Ukrainian American Justice Committee, 107 Ilehamwood Drive, DeKalb, IL 60115. The UAJC will send you a copy for $25 (it sells for $27.50 in bookstores) plus $2.50 postage and handling. For every two books sold, the UAJC plans to place one additional book in a public library free of charge.

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