The trial of suspected war criminal John Demjanjuk has moved temporarily from Jerusalem to West Berlin. There Otto Horn, a former SS guard at the Treblinka death camp, identified Demjanjuk from photographs Tuesday as his fellow guard known to the inmates as “Ivan the Terrible.”
Horn, 87 and in poor health, was unable to travel to Israel to testify. He was questioned in a West Berlin courtroom by Israeli prosecuting attorney Michael Horowitz and Demjanjuk’s American lawyer, Mark O’Connor, before the three-judge panel of the Jerusalem district court which is hearing the case, Dov Levin, Dalia Dorner and Tzvi Tal.
Horowitz concentrated on details necessary for a positive identification of Demjanjuk as the notorious “Ivan.” O’Connor sought to discredit the witness by alluding to his possible involvement in war crimes. Horn was tried in Dusseldorf in 1964 and 1965 for alleged complicity in murder. He was acquitted for lack of evidence.
The judge in charge of the West Berlin court allowed the hearing to be conducted according to Israeli practice. He refrained from questioning the witness, leaving the interrogation entirely to the prosecuting and defense attorneys. Occasionally one of the Israeli judges put a question to Horn. He took the stand again on Wednesday and may also appear on Thursday.
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