Suspected war criminal John Demjanjuk will take the stand in his own defense when his trial resumes on July 27 following a month’s recess which began Tuesday.
The Ukrainian-born former American citizen accused of operating the gas chambers at the Treblinka death camp opted to testify after criminal court Judge Dov Levin advised him Monday that he had a choice but “an accused who remains silent thereby strengthens the case against himself.”
The recess was requested by Demjanjuk’s American attorney, Mark O’Connor. He said he needed at least 30 days to prepare the defense.
Levin, who presides over a three-judge panel hearing the case, rejected a defense motion that no case had been made against the defendant and therefore no answer was required.
“We have to weigh the evidence contained in over 5,000 pages of protocol and 211 exhibits,” Levin said. ‘You are asking us to wipe all this out…No court in the world would admit that it had been careless to such an extent.”
The defense contends that Demjanjuk was held by the Germans as a prisoner of war during the time he is alleged to have been the Treblinka guard known as “Ivan the Terrible” for his brutality. But more than a score of witnesses, including Treblinka survivors, identified him in court as “Ivan.” The identification was corroborated by another former Treblinka guard whose testimony was taken by the prosecution and defense teams in West Berlin earlier this month.
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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.
