German prosecutors have formally charged John Demjanjuk on with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder at a Nazi death camp during World War II.

German doctors had previously determined that Demjanjuk is fit to stand trial on charges that he was an accessory to murder at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp.  Doctors state that the 89-year-old retired auto worker, recently deported from the United States, can stand trial so long as his time in court does not exceed two 90-minute sessions daily.

The charges still must be accepted by the court but this is generally considered a formality. Prosecutors and Demjanjuk’s defense attorney, said the trial could begin by autumn.

A key witness against Demjanjuk recently  stepped forward dealing a devastating blow to his claims of mistaken identity. Alexander Nagorny, a former concentration camp guard will testify that he not only worked with Demjanjuk in a camp but lived with him for a period of time.

Nagorny will be a key witness against the 89-year-old Demjanjuk.  He will testify that he worked with Demjanjuk at a concentration camp in Flossenburg, Germany, and lived with him after the war in Landshut, a Bavarian city near Munich.  While he does not put Demjanjuk at Sobibor, if believed it is a severe blow to Demjanjuk’s case as he has steadfastly claimed he is the victim of mistaken identity and was never a concentration camp guard.  The fact that Nagorny lived with Demjanjuk makes his testimony uniquely powerful and unlike others in similar trials who claimed that they served with or only saw a particular guard in a camp. This type of testimony  could often be discredited based on the combination of brief interactions, mistaken identity and passage of time.  His testimony is also crucial because if believed it ties Demjanjuk to a specific concentration camp guard I.D number. That same number places Demjanjuk at Sobibor, the camp in which he is accused of committing war crimes.

Like Demjanjuk, Nagorny is old and very ill.  If his health renders him unavailable to testify at trial, his testimony at a preliminary hearing will be admissible.

Get ready for what should be the most publicized Nazi War Crimes trial since Adolf Eichmann and what should be the last chance to relive history before it is relegated to the history books.

It looks like accused war criminal John Demjanjuk will be forced to face his alleged Nazi concentration camp past in what in all likelihood will be the last World War II Nazi war crimes trial of our lifetime.

German doctors have determined that Demjanjuk is fit to stand trial on charges that he was an accessory to murder at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp.  Doctors state that the 89-year-old retired auto worker, recently deported from the United States, can stand trial so long as his time in court does not exceed two 90-minute sessions daily.

Prosecutors and Demjanjuk’s defense attorney, said the trial could begin by autumn.

A key witness against Demjanjuk recently  stepped forward dealing a devastating blow to his claims of mistaken identity. Alexander Nagorny, a former concentration camp guard will testify that he not only worked with Demjanjuk in a camp but lived with him for a period of time.

Nagorny will be a key witness against the 89-year-old Demjanjuk.  He will testify that he worked with Demjanjuk at a concentration camp in Flossenburg, Germany, and lived with him after the war in Landshut, a Bavarian city near Munich.  While he does not put Demjanjuk at Sobibor, if believed it is a severe blow to Demjanjuk’s case as he has steadfastly claimed he is the victim of mistaken identity and was never a concentration camp guard.  The fact that Nagorny lived with Demjanjuk makes his testimony uniquely powerful and unlike others in similar trials who claimed that they served with or only saw a particular guard in a camp. This type of testimony  could often be discredited based on the combination of brief interactions, mistaken identity and passage of time.  His testimony is also crucial because if believed it ties Demjanjuk to a specific concentration camp guard I.D number. That same number places Demjanjuk at Sobibor, the camp in which he is accused of committing war crimes.

Like Demjanjuk, Nagorny is old and very ill.  If his health renders him unavailable to testify at trial, his testimony at a preliminary hearing will be admissible.

In a case of life imitating art, the new witness also rings eerily similar to the movie Music Box which is loosely based on the Demjanjuk saga.  In that movie,  the character, “Mike Laszlo” played by Armand Muller Stahl is accused of being the  war criminal “Mishka” who murdered Jews  as part of the Hungarian “Arrow Cross” death squads.  Like Demjanjuk ,he claimed mistaken identity.

Now we have another piece coming into play.  In Music Box, a witness, “Pal Horvath” came forward claiming  he had served with Mishka and identified that person as Mike Laslow.   He, like Nagorny was old and in failing health.  It turned out however that he had previously given affidavits identifying two other individuals as Mishka. His testimony was discredited and ruled inadmissible. Michael Laslow went free.(it was a deportation hearing, not a criminal hearing).  In the end it turned out that Laslow was in fact the war criminal Mishka.

Is Alexander Nagorny a real life “Pal Horvath“?   Is John Demjanjuk a real life Mishka?  It looks like we are going to find out.

Whatever tune comes out of this real life  “Music Box”, it is a song that will never be played live again.   It needs to be heard and recorded for history so no one ever forgets.

It looks like accused war criminal John Demjanjuk will be forced to face his alleged Nazi Concentration Camp past in the name of Alexander Nagorny, a former concentration camp guard who will testify that he not only worked with Demjanjuk in a camp but lived with him for a period of time.

Should Demjanjuk be found healthy enough to stand trial, Nagorny will be a key witness against the 89-year-old Demjanjuk.  He will testify that he worked with Demjanjuk at a concentration camp in Flossenburg, Germany, and lived with him after the war in Landshut, a Bavarian city near Munich.  While he does not put Demjanjuk at Sobibor, if believed it is a severe blow to Demjanjuk’s case as he has steadfastly claimed he is the victim of mistaken identity and was never a concentration camp guard.  The fact that Nagorny lived with Demjanjuk makes his testimony uniquely powerful and unlike others in similar trials who claimed that they served with or only saw a particular guard in a camp. This type of testimony  could often be discredited based on the combination of brief interactions, mistaken identity and passage of time.  His testimony is also crucial because if believed it ties Demjanjuk to a specific concentration camp guard I.D number. That same number places Demjanjuk at Sobibor, the camp in which he is accused of committing war crimes.

Like Demjanjuk, Nagorny is old and very ill.  If his health renders him unavailable to testify at trial, his testimony at a preliminary hearing will be admissible.

In a case of life imitating art, the new witness also rings eerily similar to the movie Music Box which is loosely based on the Demjanjuk saga.  In that movie,  the character, “Mike Laszlo” played by Armand Muller Stahl is accused of being the  war criminal “Mishka” who murdered Jews  as part of the Hungarian “Arrow Cross” death squads.  Like Demjanjuk ,he claimed mistaken identity.

Now we have another piece coming into play.  In Music Box, a witness, “Pal Horvath” came forward claiming  he had served with Mishka and identified that person as Mike Laslow.   He, like Nagorny was old and in failing health.  It turned out however that he had previously given affidavits identifying two other individuals as Mishka. His testimony was discredited and ruled inadmissible. Michael Laslow went free.(it was a deportation hearing, not a criminal hearing).  In the end it turned out that Laslow was in fact the war criminal Mishka.

Is Alexander Nagorny a real life “Pal Horvath“?   Is John Demjanjuk a real life Mishka?  I hope his health improves enough for us to find out.

Whatever tune comes out of this real life  “Music Box”, it is a song that needs to be heard.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati  has denied a stay of deportation for John Demjanjuk, the 89-year-old retired autoworker and accused Nazi death camp guard.  While the decision could be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, they have not been sympathetic to his appeals in the past, denying them all.  You can read the 6th Circuit order denying the stay of deportation here.

John Demjanjuk, 88 has managed to escape his alleged Nazi past for over 60 years. He has lived a quiet life in suburban Cleveland fighting United States Justice Department efforts to deport him. He has beaten an Israeli death sentence. He had his United States citizenship revoked in 1981, restored in 1998 and then revoked again in 2002 based on Justice Department evidence showing he concealed his service at Sobibor and other Nazi-run death and forced labor camps. A movie has been made loosely based on his saga.

In the non-Hollywood real world, Germany has issued a warrant for Demjanjuk’s arrest. German prosecutors claim Demjanjuk was an accessory to some 29,000 deaths during World War II as a guard at the Sobibor concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Demjanjuk had previously  beaten back a final deportation order to Germany(an immigration judge ruled in 2005 he could be deported to Germany, Poland or Ukraine) when he received a stay of deportatino with six U.S. Customs agents standing right on his door step of his suburban Cleveland home, wheel chair in hand(literally) with a wheel chair accessible van, ready to escort him to the airport in Cleveland for a forced and unwanted journey into his Nazi past. Demjanjuk claims that he is unable to travel due to his poor health and that any deportation under such circumstances would constitute cruel  would amount to torture.

The Demjanjuk citizenship and deportation odyssey began in Israel. He was originally sentenced to death in Israel, convicted of being the Nazi death camp guard “Ivan the Terrible”. The Israeli Supreme Court later overturned the conviction, saying another man was probably “Ivan,” a sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp where 870,000 people died. He then returned to the United States and had his citizenship restored.

Demjanjuk was stripped of his U.S. citizenship again in 2002, with a judge ruled that he had worked as a guard at other death camps. Because no country was willing to take him and it is unconstitutional to incarcerate him, he as been able to live quietly in his Cleveland home.

As to the stripping of his citizenship and aggressive deportation stance taken by the Justice Department, Edward Nishnic, a spokesman for Demjanjuk’s family once stated:

“This is taking it to the ridiculous……. It’s another form of harassment against a very and very frail man.”

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,”

His wife Vera had previously old told a German newspaper:

“His brain is not functioning correctly. One day he recognizes everything, the next day he has forgotten it all. He goes to the doctor for injections once a week, otherwise he wouldn’t be around much longer.”

The U.S. attorney general’s office has filed a response to Demjanjuk’s 6th Circuit motions, saying the court does not have the authority to rule on a previous denial for a stay by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals.

“Because there is no reviewable final order of removal, this court lacks jurisdiction,” the government said. “Simply put, this court does not have the statutory authority to entertain his request and related motion.”

In addition to his cruel and unusual argument, Demjanjuk has consistently maintained that he is a victim of mistaken identity and wrongly targeted in a two decade vendetta by the United States Justice Department.

Should John Demjanjuk be deported to Germany to face trial for his crimes? I say yes. If there is to be mercy based on age and health for Mr. Demjanjuk, it is for a German court and the citizens of the nation where he stands accused to decide. There is a valid extradition order. There is a valid deportation order. There is a treaty in place. That is how it works. It is time for John Demjanjuk to go home and face his past.

You can read an actual pleading from the case that contains an excellent summary of the facts and some of Demjanjuk’s arguments here.

** Order Of Stay Issued By The Sixth Circuit Court Of Appeal