Accused Nazi Loses Battle to Prevent His Deportation

A retired Cleveland auto mechanic who is accused of being a sadistic Nazi guard known as “Ivan the Terrible” in a Polish death camp has lost an appeal to remain in the United States.

The U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals last week rejected the appeal by John Demjanjuk, who has been fighting deportation to the Soviet Union.

“The board dismissed the respondent’s appeal . . . and found him deportable,” said David Holmes, chief attorney examiner for the board.

Neal Sher, of the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations, said he has been advised that the board has affirmed the order deporting Demjanjuk to the Soviet Union.

Demjanjuk, 64, is accused of being a sadistic guard at the Treblinka, Poland, death camp during World War II.

The retired Cleveland auto mechanic was stripped of his U.S. citizenship in a 1981 trial when a federal court ruled that he had lied on his immigration papers about his past.

Demjanjuk, who first served in the Soviet Army, was captured in 1942 by the Germans. Government attorneys say he subsequently became a guard for the Nazis.

Demjanjuk denies this, however, and says he remained a prisoner of war. He has been fighting the government’s effort to deport him to the Soviet Union, saying he fears he will be executed if he returns to his native land.

Also, Israel has requested extradition of Demjanjuk for war crimes against Jewish people.