JERUSALEM : A Long Road Back
John Demjanjuk, extradited to Israel in 1986 to stand trial as the sadistic Nazi death camp guard known as “Ivan the Terrible,” is expected to return to the United States this week following action by Israel’s highest court clearing the way for his release.
Exonerated on the original charge in July, Demjanjuk had been held pending unsuccessful efforts to have him tried on new war crimes accusations.
The 73-year-old retired auto worker is to return to his family in Cleveland pending resolution of scheduling and security problems. The flights he would normally take from Israel to the United States stop in France, which has decreed him persona non grata. Also, the extremist Kach movement has issued death threats against Demjanjuk.
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