FACES AND PLACES: Guess who went to Canada (02/02/97)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Guess who went to Canada

So, you thought "60 Minutes" had learned its lesson. Think again.

The word on the February 2 broadcast was out weeks in advance, making it one of the more ballyhooed broadcasts CBS has ever had. As early as January 24 Chicago Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet wrote: "Mike Wallace is preparing a '60 Minutes' exposé of Canada's sordid record in dealing with Nazi criminals. Such criminals apparently found safe haven in Canada, where its Supreme Court ruled a suspect could be acquitted if he pleaded he 'was only following orders.' In contrast to Canada's minuscule action against Nazism, the U.S. Justice Department has deported some 50 war criminals and 300 more cases under investigation."

Makes one kind of proud to be an American, eh?

One would have hoped that in the wake of the Demjanjuk debacle, the Office of Special Investigations would have been disbanded. On November 17, 1993, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth District ruled that "as early as 1978 or 1979 the government had information from official sources within the Soviet Union indicating that there were two Ukrainian operators of the gas chambers at Treblinka - Ivan and Nikolai - and that "Ivan Grozny" (Ivan the Terrible) was a man named Ivan Marchenko, not Ivan Demjanjuk."

The courts then stated: "It seems clear that the American courts considering Demjanjuk's fate should have had those documents that were in OSI's possession that pointed to Ivan Marchenko as Ivan the Terrible."

The court then ruled 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."

The court concluded that "OSI attorneys acted with reckless disregard for the truth and the government's obligation to take no steps that prevent an adversary from presenting his case fully and fairly. This was fraud on the court in the circumstances of this case ..." Charging OSI attorneys with prosecutorial misconduct, the court vacated the original extradition proceedings.

A few weeks ago a reporter from USA Today interviewed me regarding the OSI and its newfound energy in the wake of the Soviet collapse. New documents have been found in Lithuania, he told me, and the OSI is pursuing new leads regarding Nazis in the United States. Given their singleminded dedication, the reporter, who somehow obtained copies of my articles regarding the OSI in The Ukrainian Weekly, wondered why I had been so negative. I told him. Then I asked if I should move out of town. I haven't seen the article yet, but then I haven't been looking for it. [The article appeared on January 29 - ed.]

And what about Canada? Have the Canadians really been as derelict as "60 Minutes" would have us believe? Readers are reminded that it was Simon Wiesenthal who first claimed that "several hundred" war criminals were living in Canada (The Toronto Star, May 19, 1971). The number was later inflated to "maybe 1,000" (The Globe and Mail, July 5, 1983). It then shot up to 2,000 (The Globe and Mail, November 21, 1983). Three years later, Mr. Wiesenthal was claiming a grand total of 6,000 Nazi war criminals living in Canada (New York Daily News, May 16, 1986).

The Canadian government established a Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals chaired by Justice Jules Deschenes. The commission issued a report in 1986 that concluded that the figures suggested were "increasingly large and grossly exaggerated."

After repeated requests from the commission chair, Mr. Wiesenthal submitted the names of 217 Ukrainian officers who had served in the Galicia Division, which had fought the Red Army on the side of the Germans during World War II. The final report of the Deschenes Commission concluded that: "1) the members of the Galicia Division were individually screened for security purposes before admission to Canada; 2) charges of war crimes against members of the Galicia Division have never been substantiated, either in 1950 when they were first proferred or in 1984 when they were renewed, or before this commission; 3) further, in the absence of participation in or knowledge of specific war crimes, mere membership in the Galicia Division is insufficient to justify prosecution; 4) no case can be made against members of the Galicia Division for revocation of citizenship or deportation since the Canadian authorities were fully aware of the relevant facts in 1950 and admission to Canada was not granted them because of any false representation or fraud, or concealment of material circumstances; 5) in any event, of the 217 officers of the Galicia Division denounced by Mr. Wiesenthal to the Canadian government, 187 (i.e., 86 percent of the list) never set foot in Canada, 11 have died in Canada, two have left for another country, no prima facie case has been established against 16, and the last one could not be located."

At the cost of great time and expense, the Deschenes Commission found nothing. In the eyes of CBS, of course, that was a mistake that needed rectification.

Will the OSI and CBS ever get it straight regarding Ukrainians during World War II? I don't think so. The OSI spends millions of tax dollars each year to conduct its investigations. CBS has resources and influence our community can never match.

So what do we do? Some people have donated copies of Yoram Sheftel's "Defending Ivan the Terrible: The Conspiracy to convict John Demjanjuk" to libraries across North America. Thus far books have been donated to the Beth Page Public Library in New York, the Trumbull Public Library in Warren, Ohio, the DeKalb Public Library in Illinois, the Parkdale Public Library in Toronto, the Cleveland Public Library, the New York Public Library, and libraries at Cornell University, the University of Michigan, Princeton University, the University of Pittsburgh, Ohio State University, Rutgers University, Yale University, the University of Halifax, the University of Texas, the University of Montreal, the University of Toronto, the University of Chicago, Northern Illinois University and Columbia University.

For every two copies of Mr. Sheftel's book that are purchased, the Ukrainian American Justice Committee sends a complimentary book in their name to the library of their choice. The offer is still valid. The books sell for $27.50 and can be obtained from: UAJC, 107 Ilehamwood Drive, DeKalb, IL 60115.

Readers may contact me via e-mail: [email protected]

| Home Page |