History comes alive at Demjanjuk trial
Entering the Munich court this week to cover the trial of John Demjanjuk, 89, accused of helping to force 27,900 Jews into gas chambers at an extermination camp in 1943, was like stepping into a history book.
Inevitably, the spotlight was on Demjanjuk himself.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s most wanted Nazi war suspect lay under a white blanket on a mobile bed in the middle of the courtroom. Was this old, expressionless and clearly weak man really the “face of evil”?
Efraim Zuroff, head of the Wiensenthal Center’s Jerusalem office echoed the views of many observers when he told Reuters: “Demjanjuk put on a great act. He should have gone to Hollywood, not Sobibor.”
Even to those who believed he was making the most of his frail condition, it was a pitiful sight.
Perhaps most striking, however, was the presence of other Holocaust victims and witnesses of Nazi atrocities.
It was hard not to be moved as Thomas Blatt, a partially deaf 82-year-old survivor of Sobibor, struggled to follow the proceedings and told Reuters he still had nightmares about his months at the death camp, in what is today Poland...
... These individuals, who belong to a generation that is dying out, said the trial was symbolic. Their main interest was in hearing the truth and being able to tell the world what they witnessed.
It can also be argued that this trial, probably Germany’s last big Nazi-era war crimes case, is crucial for younger generations.
It can help set the record straight on a defining moment in modern European history and even lead to a greater understanding of today’s policies. It helps explain why diplomatic relations between some European neighbours are still highly charged. And why European cooperation after World War Two — which eventually led to the European Union — was so important. Politicians were intent on avoiding another war.
Read entire article at Reuters
Inevitably, the spotlight was on Demjanjuk himself.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s most wanted Nazi war suspect lay under a white blanket on a mobile bed in the middle of the courtroom. Was this old, expressionless and clearly weak man really the “face of evil”?
Efraim Zuroff, head of the Wiensenthal Center’s Jerusalem office echoed the views of many observers when he told Reuters: “Demjanjuk put on a great act. He should have gone to Hollywood, not Sobibor.”
Even to those who believed he was making the most of his frail condition, it was a pitiful sight.
Perhaps most striking, however, was the presence of other Holocaust victims and witnesses of Nazi atrocities.
It was hard not to be moved as Thomas Blatt, a partially deaf 82-year-old survivor of Sobibor, struggled to follow the proceedings and told Reuters he still had nightmares about his months at the death camp, in what is today Poland...
... These individuals, who belong to a generation that is dying out, said the trial was symbolic. Their main interest was in hearing the truth and being able to tell the world what they witnessed.
It can also be argued that this trial, probably Germany’s last big Nazi-era war crimes case, is crucial for younger generations.
It can help set the record straight on a defining moment in modern European history and even lead to a greater understanding of today’s policies. It helps explain why diplomatic relations between some European neighbours are still highly charged. And why European cooperation after World War Two — which eventually led to the European Union — was so important. Politicians were intent on avoiding another war.