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Shultz Asked to Approve Extradition of Nazi Death Camp Official to Israel

May 8, 1985
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The American Jewish Congress has asked Secretary of State George Shultz to authorize the extradition to Israel of a Nazi death camp official now residing in Cleveland so he can be tried for murdering Jews. The former camp functionary, John Demjanjuk, who was known in the Treblinka concentration camp as “Ivan the Terrible,” has already been stripped of his American citizenship for lying about his wartime activities. Israel has asked for his extradition so he can be put on trial for the gross atrocities he committed.

Evidence presented by the government in federal district court in Cleveland showed that Demjanjuk not only forced prisoners at Treblinka to enter the gas chambers, but personally operated the motor used to pump cyanide gas into the chambers. The U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio found that Demjanjuk also beat inmates and carried out other tortures, using drills.

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