Two residents of Adelaide have become the second and third residents of this country to be charged under the federal War Crimes Act, which was upheld as constitutional last month by Australia’s High Court.
The two men, whose names have been withheld by the Adelaide Magistrates Court, were charged Sept. 5 with mass murder during the Nazi occupation of the Ukraine.
Australia’s only other person being tried under the War Crimes Act, Ivan Polyukhovich, is also a resident of Adelaide.
The court described one of the accused as a 78-year-old Ukrainian who was allegedly involved in the wilful killings of 102 Jews near the village of Grivan, in the Vinnitsa region of the Ukraine, between March 1 and July 31, 1942.
The victims, who were described as “mainly women, children and some elderly men,” include 15 who have been named or identified by relatives.
The second man accused is a 67-year-old German, who is charged with involvement in the murder of 104 Jews near the village of Izraylovka (now Berezantka), in the Ustinovka district of the Kirovograd region.
The murders took place between May 1 and July 30, 1942. The accused is also charged with the murders of 19 children and a Ukrainian construction worker in 1943.
Both men became Australian citizens. They have each been remanded on $16,000 (U.S.) bail.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
