The Soviet Union Gives Israel the Original Nazi Ss Identity Card Issued to Demjanjuk

The Soviet Union has provided Israel with the original Nazi SS identity card issued to Ivan Demjanjuk, the alleged war criminal being held in Ramle prison pending trial, possibly next month. Demjanjuk changed his first name to John when he became an American citizen in 1958. He was extradited to Israel last February.

Israel requested the original identity card because the photo copy of the card in its possession was considered insufficient evidence to present in court. The original was obtained through what were described as indirect channels to the Moscow authorities. It was given to Nimrod Novik, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres’ political advisor, who handed it over to Attorney General Yosef Harish Wednesday.

CARD CONTAINS DISCREPANCIES

But the card contains discrepancies which could raise difficulties in identifying Demjanjuk as the Treblinka death camp guard known by inmates as “Ivan the Terrible” for his extreme brutality.

It bears a photograph on one side and personal and physical details on the other. The latter include a scar on his back which the Ramle jail authorities have identified on the prisoner’s back. But the card certifies that the bearer was a guard at the Sobibor prison whereas the charge sheet against Demjanjuk refers to crimes committed at Treblinka.

There is also a five-centimeter difference between Demjanjuk’s height and the height listed on the card. Demjanjuk’s American attorney, Mark O’Connor, immediately attacked the card as a Soviet forgery intended to implicate the Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk in war crimes for reasons of their own.

Demjanjuk, 66, a former resident of Cleveland, Ohio, was stripped of his U.S. citizenship and is the first alleged Nazi war criminal to be extradited to Israel to stand trial.