John Demjanjuk, held in the Ramle prison awaiting trial on charges of war crimes as the suspected notorious Ivan the Terrible sadistic camp guard at Treblinka, Thursday met his family for the first time since his extradition from the U.S. last February.
His wife Vera, 60, their 26-year-old daughter Irene, accompanied by her husband Edward Nishnik and their seven-month-old baby Edward Jr., had arrived in Israel Wednesday and were reportedly angered that they were not allowed to visit him immediately upon their arrival.
They were told that the necessary permission would be granted Wednesday and that they would henceforth be allowed to spend two hours with him twice a week, instead of the regulation 30-minute visit to prisoners once a week.
Prison authorities said the special arrangements have been made in view of the special circumstances–the distance the family has come, and the fact that Demjanjuk, who is 66, knows nobody else in Israel.
The Demjanjuk file is now in the hands of the state prosecutors who are preparing charges against the suspected war criminal, who denies that he is Ivan the Terrible and was not at Treblinka at the time of the crimes with which he is to be charged. He claims that his detention and extradition is a result of mistaken identity.
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