Ok yesterday I read this story after the story I will have my thoughts as only I can ....
CLEVELAND – John Demjanjuk was released from federal custody Tuesday evening, just hours after six immigration officers removed the accused Nazi death camp guard from his suburban home in a wheelchair, authorities said. Federal officials had taken Demjanjuk to a federal building in downtown Cleveland, but the 89-year-old retired autoworker's impending return to Germany was halted when three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay of deportation.
An arrest warrant in Germany claims Demjanjuk was an accessory to some 29,000 deaths during World War II at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Once in Germany, he could be formally charged in court.
Demjanjuk was driven to his home in Seven Hills after his release, former son-in-law and family spokesman Ed Nishnic said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement they'll supervise him through electronic monitoring.
In granting the stay, the three-judge panel said it would further consider Demjanjuk's motion to reopen the U.S. case that ordered the deportation, in which he says painful medical ailments would make travel to Germany torturous.
Citing the need to act because of the possibility of Demjanjuk's imminent deportation, the court issued the stay without addressing the U.S. government's argument that the court had no jurisdiction to rule on Demjanjuk's appeal.
The government planned to continue its legal battle in court, said Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney.
Nishnic said the family was relieved the stay was granted.
"We're delighted. We're prepared to make our arguments with the 6th Circuit, and it's just a shame that Mr. Demjanjuk had to go through the hell that he went through once again this morning," he said as he walked into a federal building in Cleveland where Demjanjuk was being held.
Earlier Tuesday, Demjanjuk's wife, Vera, sobbed and held her hands to her mouth as immigration officers loaded his wheelchair into a van at their home. As the van moved down the street, Vera turned and waved, sobbing in the arms of a granddaughter.
Several family members, including a 10-year-old grandson, were in the home when the officers removed Demjanjuk.
Nishnic said Demjanjuk, a native of Ukraine, told his family, "I love you," in Ukrainian and was aware that the officers were there to take him to Germany.
Nishnic said his former father-in-law moaned in pain as he was placed in the wheelchair.
"It was horrendous. He was in such pain. I wouldn't want to see anyone go through something like that," said granddaughter Olivia Nishnic, 20.
John Demjanjuk Jr., who filed the appeal with the 6th Circuit earlier Tuesday, said the government hadn't lived up to earlier understandings of how his father would be removed.
"They told me that they would have an ambulance. They told me we would have three to five days' notice, and obviously you can't believe everything the government tells you," he told The Associated Press by phone while headed back to Cleveland from the federal appeals court in Cincinnati.
He predicted his father would not survive long enough in Germany to stand trial.
"If he is deported, if this madness and inhumane action is not stopped by the 6th Circuit, he will live out his life in a (German) hospital. He will never be put on trial," he said. "It makes absolutely no sense that the Germans, after nearly killing him in combat, would try to kill him once again."
The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center said it was undeterred.
"We remain confident that John Demjanjuk will be deported and finally face the bar of justice for the unspeakable crimes he committed during World War II when he was a guard at the Sobibor death camp," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, Wiesenthal Center founder.
"His work at the Sobibor death camp was to push men, women and children into the gas chamber. He had no mercy, no pity and no remorse for the families whose lives he was destroying forever," Hier said.
Deborah Dwork, a professor of Holocaust history at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., said the Demjanjuk case illustrates that there is no statute of limitations on the crime of genocide.
"The issue is holding him accountable, no matter what his age," she said.
Dwork said she believes German prosecutors acted cautiously and deliberately in bringing their case because they can't afford to run a weak trial. Germany's image in the eyes of the international community would be tarnished if Demjanjuk is acquitted, she said.
Demjanjuk, a native Ukrainian, has denied being a Nazi guard and claims he was a prisoner of war of the Germans. He came to the United States after the war as a refugee.
Demjanjuk had been tried in Israel after accusations surfaced that he was the notorious Nazi guard "Ivan the Terrible" in Poland at the Treblinka death camp. He was found guilty in 1988 of war crimes and crimes against humanity, a conviction later overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.
A U.S. judge revoked his citizenship in 2002 based on Justice Department evidence showing he concealed his service at Sobibor and other Nazi-run death and forced labor camps.
An immigration judge ruled in 2005 he could be deported to Germany, Poland or Ukraine.
Ok my thoughts on this and it gonna piss some people off but when have I cared about that. I love history and read all I can about it I find Hitler very interesting and would have loved to speak with him to see if he was as crazy as people say he was. Back to this story John Demjanjuk I fell age has no limit on the crime he is accused of and I fell no matter what his health is he should be sent back to Germany to stand trail for this. His family I understand there feelings but what about the family members of the 29,000 he is accused of gassing to death. I don't think his age or health should be any reason not to send his wrinkle ass back to Germany to stand trail for these murders. His grand kids I feel sorry for they don't understand at all and I guess I wouldn't either if I didn't study history but someone needs to let them know 29,000 people women and kids in that number that he is accused of killing this can not be over looked. I'm sorry I have no symphony for the pain he felt when they removed him from his house I have none for him if they send him back to Germany or Poland and he never returns he should thank the good Lord above he lived to be 89 them people he marched into the gas chamber didn't get a choice. I'm sorry just people like him make me sick!
For more info on John Demjanjuk / Ivan the Terrible click here.
Main story from Yahoo News click here.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Oh later today or tomorrow I will have a list of my books if your interested either comment on here with your email or email me at ryryt87@yahoo.com
Later from Florida!
CLEVELAND – John Demjanjuk was released from federal custody Tuesday evening, just hours after six immigration officers removed the accused Nazi death camp guard from his suburban home in a wheelchair, authorities said. Federal officials had taken Demjanjuk to a federal building in downtown Cleveland, but the 89-year-old retired autoworker's impending return to Germany was halted when three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay of deportation.An arrest warrant in Germany claims Demjanjuk was an accessory to some 29,000 deaths during World War II at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Once in Germany, he could be formally charged in court.
Demjanjuk was driven to his home in Seven Hills after his release, former son-in-law and family spokesman Ed Nishnic said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement they'll supervise him through electronic monitoring.
In granting the stay, the three-judge panel said it would further consider Demjanjuk's motion to reopen the U.S. case that ordered the deportation, in which he says painful medical ailments would make travel to Germany torturous.
Citing the need to act because of the possibility of Demjanjuk's imminent deportation, the court issued the stay without addressing the U.S. government's argument that the court had no jurisdiction to rule on Demjanjuk's appeal.
The government planned to continue its legal battle in court, said Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney.
Nishnic said the family was relieved the stay was granted.
"We're delighted. We're prepared to make our arguments with the 6th Circuit, and it's just a shame that Mr. Demjanjuk had to go through the hell that he went through once again this morning," he said as he walked into a federal building in Cleveland where Demjanjuk was being held.
Earlier Tuesday, Demjanjuk's wife, Vera, sobbed and held her hands to her mouth as immigration officers loaded his wheelchair into a van at their home. As the van moved down the street, Vera turned and waved, sobbing in the arms of a granddaughter.
Several family members, including a 10-year-old grandson, were in the home when the officers removed Demjanjuk.
Nishnic said Demjanjuk, a native of Ukraine, told his family, "I love you," in Ukrainian and was aware that the officers were there to take him to Germany.
Nishnic said his former father-in-law moaned in pain as he was placed in the wheelchair.
"It was horrendous. He was in such pain. I wouldn't want to see anyone go through something like that," said granddaughter Olivia Nishnic, 20.
John Demjanjuk Jr., who filed the appeal with the 6th Circuit earlier Tuesday, said the government hadn't lived up to earlier understandings of how his father would be removed.
"They told me that they would have an ambulance. They told me we would have three to five days' notice, and obviously you can't believe everything the government tells you," he told The Associated Press by phone while headed back to Cleveland from the federal appeals court in Cincinnati.
He predicted his father would not survive long enough in Germany to stand trial.
"If he is deported, if this madness and inhumane action is not stopped by the 6th Circuit, he will live out his life in a (German) hospital. He will never be put on trial," he said. "It makes absolutely no sense that the Germans, after nearly killing him in combat, would try to kill him once again."
The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center said it was undeterred.
"We remain confident that John Demjanjuk will be deported and finally face the bar of justice for the unspeakable crimes he committed during World War II when he was a guard at the Sobibor death camp," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, Wiesenthal Center founder.
"His work at the Sobibor death camp was to push men, women and children into the gas chamber. He had no mercy, no pity and no remorse for the families whose lives he was destroying forever," Hier said.
Deborah Dwork, a professor of Holocaust history at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., said the Demjanjuk case illustrates that there is no statute of limitations on the crime of genocide.
"The issue is holding him accountable, no matter what his age," she said.
Dwork said she believes German prosecutors acted cautiously and deliberately in bringing their case because they can't afford to run a weak trial. Germany's image in the eyes of the international community would be tarnished if Demjanjuk is acquitted, she said.
Demjanjuk, a native Ukrainian, has denied being a Nazi guard and claims he was a prisoner of war of the Germans. He came to the United States after the war as a refugee.
Demjanjuk had been tried in Israel after accusations surfaced that he was the notorious Nazi guard "Ivan the Terrible" in Poland at the Treblinka death camp. He was found guilty in 1988 of war crimes and crimes against humanity, a conviction later overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.
A U.S. judge revoked his citizenship in 2002 based on Justice Department evidence showing he concealed his service at Sobibor and other Nazi-run death and forced labor camps.
An immigration judge ruled in 2005 he could be deported to Germany, Poland or Ukraine.
Ok my thoughts on this and it gonna piss some people off but when have I cared about that. I love history and read all I can about it I find Hitler very interesting and would have loved to speak with him to see if he was as crazy as people say he was. Back to this story John Demjanjuk I fell age has no limit on the crime he is accused of and I fell no matter what his health is he should be sent back to Germany to stand trail for this. His family I understand there feelings but what about the family members of the 29,000 he is accused of gassing to death. I don't think his age or health should be any reason not to send his wrinkle ass back to Germany to stand trail for these murders. His grand kids I feel sorry for they don't understand at all and I guess I wouldn't either if I didn't study history but someone needs to let them know 29,000 people women and kids in that number that he is accused of killing this can not be over looked. I'm sorry I have no symphony for the pain he felt when they removed him from his house I have none for him if they send him back to Germany or Poland and he never returns he should thank the good Lord above he lived to be 89 them people he marched into the gas chamber didn't get a choice. I'm sorry just people like him make me sick!
For more info on John Demjanjuk / Ivan the Terrible click here.
Main story from Yahoo News click here.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Oh later today or tomorrow I will have a list of my books if your interested either comment on here with your email or email me at ryryt87@yahoo.com
Later from Florida!
I agree that John Demjanjuk deserves to be punished for what he did. But I also think that we shouldn't be doing things that are torturous to people. The claim that flying him to Germany would be a form of torture is probably phony, but the authorities need to look at it.
And I hope they'll be able to boost the immune system enough without putting you in the hospital again.
Terrible is right.
Thank you for this post, Ryan. It scares me to think of how many Americans, especially kids, probably don't know about or appreciate the significance of the people who participated in the Holocaust.
No one who committed those atrocities should be able to escape justice. Period.
My parents lost most of their Aunts, Uncles, Great-Aunts and Uncles,Cousins and one set of granparents in the Death Camps.
Never Again.
Yes...He should be put to death
the same way the he killed...
I had 1 aunt and 2 cousins that
were in those camps...They lived...
But they also had numbers tattooed
on their arms as reminders for the
rest of their lives...They have
all since passed away and I'm so
greatful to have gotten to know
them...For what they went through
they were 3 of the most amazing
wonderful women I have ever known.
I LOVE YOU!!!!
'Mom'
Watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" yet?
I, of course, absolutely agree he should be punished. IF he is, in fact, guilty. He was tried once before, decades ago in Jerusalem. The prosecution made up phony evidence and brought in false witnesses, and he still almost went to his death. Now they're trying again and I expect it's as much in retribution for how they were shamed before.
There are war criminals, but we don't punish people unless we actually have proof of their guilt, which is not guaranteed in this man's case. After all, that's why he will most likely be made to go to trial.
I also advise you visit http://www.newsy.com/videos/89_year_old_faces_nazi_war_charges/. They seem to make the common assumption that he is guilty, but they at least do him the courtesy of presenting the superficial case for why the trip to Germany might not be the best idea.