JERUSALEM : A ‘Terrible’ Mistake?
Israel’s Supreme Court is to render judgment Thursday on the appeal of John Demjanjuk, 73, the Cleveland auto worker convicted five years ago of war crimes and sentenced to death as “Ivan the Terrible,” operator of the gas chambers at the Nazi concentration camp of Treblinka.
Demjanjuk, extradited from the United States in 1986 and stripped of his American citizenship, contends he is a victim of mistaken identity, that he was never at Treblinka and that witnesses confused him with another Ivan.
Demjanjuk’s attorney predicts that the court, which heard new evidence in the appeal process, will set aside the whole conviction. But the five judges might also hold that while he may not be “Ivan the Terrible,” Demjanjuk is guilty of other war crimes.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
