A former Nazi death camp guard won a last-minute stay of deportation, shortly after US immigration agents carried the 89-year-old from his home in a wheelchair to face trial in Germany.
The ruling came in response to a petition filed earlier on Tuesday by John Demjanjuk, who is accused of having voluntarily served at the Sobibor and Majdanek concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1943.
“The petitioner’s motion for a stay of removal is granted, pending further consideration of the matters presented by the petition and motion,” said an order from the US federal appeals court.
PHOTO: AP
Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk’s reprieve from extradition to Germany came the same day immigration officials carried him wailing from his home in Ohio.
His 20-year-old granddaughter Olivia Nishnic said she was horrified by what she had witnessed.
“It makes me sick. I never thought in a million years I’d see my grandfather wheeled out in a wheelchair, screaming in agony because he’s in so much pain,” she said. “I feel I definitely won’t ever be the same from seeing something like that.”
Demjanjuk faces charges of aiding in the murder of at least 29,000 Jews during World War II.
The ruling was the latest twist in a long saga for Demjanjuk, who narrowly escaped being hanged for war crimes in Israel and has spent years in court fighting to keep the US citizenship he obtained in 1958.
Demjanjuk was allowed to return home with an electronic tracking bracelet around his ankle, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
Neither the Justice Department nor ICE would comment further except to say that the government would “continue to litigate” the case and work closely with Germany to “effectuate Demjanjuk’s removal from the United States.”
Demjanjuk’s lawyer has argued that his client is in poor health, and that jailing and trying him in Germany would cause him pain amounting to torture. His family says he suffers from kidney disease and blood disorders.
“He will face his moment of justice,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who is certain that Demjanjuk will lose his latest appeal and be deported to Germany.
While acknowledging that Tuesday had been traumatic for Demjanjuk’s family, Hier argued that ill health and old age were not reasons not to hold him accountable.
“I don’t have any pity for the fact that he’s 89 because I think of the victims he helped push into the gas chambers who would have loved to have 89 years,” Hier said.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel