Germany gets go-ahead to prosecute 'Ivan the Terrible' in last Nazi trial

Germany is preparing for what could be the last Nazi war criminal trial as the country's highest court ruled a former death camp guard known as 'Ivan the Terrible' can be tried in Munich

Ivan Demjanjuk, alleged to be Ivan the Terrible, moved to
America in 1952 and changed his first name to John Photo: AP

Ukrainian-born Ivan Demjanjuk, 88, is alleged to have been involved in the murder of over 29,000 Jews when he served as a guard in several Nazi prisons including the death camp Sobibor in Poland during World War II.

Demjanjuk moved to America in 1952 and changed his first name to John, and now lives as a retired car worker in Ohio.

Last month, a court in Munich ruled that Demjanjuk, who was dubbed Ivan the Terrible for his role in the mass murder, could not be charged in Germany. But Germany's Federal Court of Justice has overturned the verdict, making it possible for Demjanjuk to be indicted and tried in Munich, where he lived before emigrating to America.

The court ruling read: "Demjanjuk, who is accused of involvement in the killing of at least 29,000 Jews in the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland in 1943, lived for several months in 1951 in a camp in the current jurisdiction of the court."

The office of the German Federal Prosecutor indicated that new evidence that surfaced after Demjanjuk trial in Israel in 1986 would be sufficient to charge him with war crimes. Demjanjuk always denied having served in the Nazi army and claimed to have been fighting in the former Soviet armed forces.

German authorities are now expected to seek extradition and put Demjanjuk on trial, which is likely to be the last high-profile process of an alleged Nazi war criminal. Demjanjuk was already extradited to Israel once where he was sentenced to death in Israel in 1986, but a higher instance court overturned the verdict for lack of evidence and he was allowed to return to America.

Demjanjuk's relatives in America repeatedly said that he was too old to stand trial, but Charlotte Knobloch, president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, urged authorities to "do everything legally possible to accelerate the process so that Demjanjuk can be held responsible for his crimes during his lifetime."

"Demjanjuk and all other Nazi criminals still alive should know that for them there is no mercy," Mrs Knobloch said.

Telegraph