Trying a 91-year-old for involvement in the Holocaust was risky, but his prosecution sends a message to all war criminals
There were many reasons why it was problematic watching 91-year-old John Demjanjuk sitting in a wheelchair for the last few months in a German court, where he was being tried for his role in the Holocaust.
Did it not smack of vengeance chasing a nonogenarian, with Jews unable to let go of the past? Should we not forgive and forget ?
There was the practical issue of how reliable the evidence would be surrounding events that happened almost seven decades ago.
The trial also had the danger of reinforcing the stereotype that many Jews today seek to avoid ? being hapless victims and targets; the images that may have been true of the past is not something modern Jews wish to revive.
The trial might even have been counterproductive ? creating sympathy for a frail old man, making a martyr of him and causing an antisemitic backlash.
Despite all these risks, the facts against Demjanjuk were compelling enough to brush them aside. Born in the Ukraine in 1920, he initially fought for the Red Army against the Germans, but was taken prisoner and then decided to switch sides.
He was trained by the SS to be guard at the Sobibor death camp. His duties included unloading the railway-trucks of Jews who arrived, forcing them to undress and herding them into the "shower room", which were actually gas chambers, knowing what was about to befall them.
He may never have pulled a trigger and shot someone, but he was a willing accomplice and essential part of the Nazi killing machine that, during his time at Sobibor, saw the murder of 28,000 Jews.
Unlike his victims, he survived the war, went to the United States in 1952 and reinvented himself as a car mechanic in Ohio, changing his name from Ivan to John.
It was not until the 1970s that he was identified as being involved in the extermination process, extradited to Israel and put on trial ? although at the time, he was accused of being "Ivan the Terrible", a notoriously vicious guard at Treblinka.
He was found guilty, but at his appeal, his defence lawyers proved that he was a guard at Sobibor and could not have been at Treblinka at the same time. He was acquitted of being "Ivan the Terrible", but then retried in Germany for his true crime and found guilty on Thursday.
Should a statute of limitations have applied? Of course not. If Myra Hindley's crimes had only been discovered when she was in old age, it would have been inconceivable that society would have said: "The Moors murders happened long ago, and those girls have long been dead, so there's no need to face any charges now."
It is certainly not vengeance. That would have been dragging Demjanjuk from his flat in Ohio, hauling him through the streets and leaving him to the mercy of a baying mob.
Instead he benefited from legal investigations ? so thorough that he was acquitted of the initial mistaken charge ? and with full access to a defence team throughout.
Just as significant is that Demjanjuk's prosecution gives a powerful message to anyone else engaged in war crimes: they will have to face the consequences of their actions. Even if they are able to cheat justice now, it will catch up with them. Passage of time does not make their crimes more forgivable or them less culpable, and they will continually be looking over their shoulder until they are arrested.
The conviction of Demjanjuk means justice for those he helped kill, the hope of justice for all those who are suffering from other persecutions right now, and the fear of justice for the perpetrators. It might also make some think twice before acting in the way he did when young and healthy and with people at his mercy.
? Comments on this article are set to remain open for 24 hours from the time of publication but may be closed overnight
Higher education England cricket team Soap opera Iran Christmas Northern Ireland
No comments:
Post a Comment