Wiesenthal Center urges Poland to investigate John Demjanjuk (07/21/02)

Wiesenthal Center urges Poland to investigate John Demjanjuk

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The Simon Wiesenthal Center announced in a press release on June 16 that it had officially asked Polish judicial authorities to investigate the crimes committed by John Demjanjuk in Poland during World War II in the Sobibor and Majdanek death camps and the Trawniki SS training camp. The move was the first step toward his possible extradition to stand trial in Poland.

The Wiesenthal Center's request was submitted in Warsaw at a meeting between Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the center's Israel director and chief Nazi-hunter, and Leon Kieres, head of Poland's National Remembrance Institute.

According to various press reports, Poland is now studying the issue. Prof. Kieres told the news media his office is investigating whether it could "put forward charges against Demjanjuk" as a basis for seeking extradition. He explained that the review could take several months.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Poland is pursuing Nazis with renewed fervor. Two years ago, the government's National Remembrance Institute began unearthing documents on the war, and the institute now is investigating 217 other cases involving alleged Nazi collaborators.

A federal judge on February 21 had once again revoked the U.S. citizenship of Mr. Demjanjuk, whom the Office of Special Investigations of the U.S. Justice Department accuses of being a guard at several Nazi death and labor camps.

The Associated Press reported that Judge Paul Matia of the Federal District Court in Cleveland said there is enough evidence to prove Mr. Demjanjuk was a guard at Nazi death and forced labor camps without eyewitness corroboration. The ruling came a little more than eight months after a seven-day trial in the case that ended on June 8, 2001.

"The government had the burden of proving its contention to the court by clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence," Judge Matia said in a supplement to the ruling. "It did so."

Mr. Nishnic responded by saying: "We tried our case and continue to believe the government is wrong. We most respectfully believe that Judge Matia has made serious factual and legal errors in his opinion."

"We will appeal and will prove them wrong once again," Mr. Nishnic told The Weekly on February 27.

Commenting on the Wiesenthal Center's latest efforts related to the Demjanjuk case, Mr. Zuroff said, "In view of the recent U.S. decision stripping Ivan Demjanjuk of his American citizenship, which confirmed his service at Polish concentration camps, it would be extremely important for him to be tried for the crimes he committed during World War II."

"We therefore are urging the Polish authorities to initiate an investigation of this case as quickly as possible with a view toward Demjanjuk's extradition for trial in Poland," Mr. Zuroff added.

"This would be a marvelous climax to years of dealing with Demjanjuk," said Alan Rosenbaum, a philosophy professor at Cleveland State University and the author of the book, "Prosecuting Nazi War Criminals."

"This is a matter of moral and legal justice," added Mr. Rosenbaum, former director of the U.S. government's Nazi-hunting arm, the Office of Special Investigations, as well as former general counsel to the World Jewish Congress. "To the people who say, 'Why do you keep going after his poor man?' - well, the only thing I can say is because the victims aren't here to talk about it."

The Plain Dealer also quoted Joseph McGinness, a Cleveland lawyer who has represented men suspected of helping the Nazis, as saying that Mr. Demjanjuk has gone through enough.

"He has been through hell," said Mr. McGinness, who has not handled the Demjanjuk case. "They're trying to destroy this man, absolutely destroy him, and it's just not right."

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