The Demjanjuk Episode - How USA Unwittingly Played into the Hands of Germany

Need former Nazis be pursued relentlessly till the end of the earth? Yes, I am for it.

Yes, all people who commit crimes against humanity and indulge in ethnic cleansing need to be tried and punished.

Definitely, Holocaust was a tragedy without parallel in history and it should not be repeated.

But then what is wrong with this Demjanjuk episode?

No, there is nothing wrong with anything judicial that happened on this side of the pond.

The only problem is what will be happening on the other side of the pond.

Because, European Union doesn't allow capital punishment.

So, whatever be the case against him, no law in Europe can hand down adequate reparations.

And as the AP report says, the maximum they can do is this:

"Demjanjuk is expected to be held in the medical unit of a Munich prison. The government has said preparations have been made at the facility to ensure he will receive appropriate care."

The case is yet to come up for trial. And we already know what maximum punishment Germany can hand down considering his age and condition, if he is indicted!

So, while Germany may seem to be a stickler to the Nazi war crimes trials, what they actually did was making a farce of our judicial system. They knew very well that courts in this country decided to play it down not for fun but so that future cases won't be affected.

Usually, this type of elderly cases can be tried here in USA, not necessarily in Germany. But still Germany made sure that a big drama will be enacted here insisting he be deported? Why?

I see only one reason - to weaken future cases of such trials by raising public opinion here in USA against them.

Not even Demjanjuk enemies will ask that he be meted out harsh punishment in this condition. Because it is not worth it, unless the punishment is severe enough to provide a historic lesson for a historic tragedy.

Yes, I am questioning the sincerity of overzealous German efforts in this particular case that is essentially going to raise antagonism against future deportations and trials.

Even the symbolic act of punishment of war crimes has been undermined by the pictures of endless back and forth journeys in the media that has raised public opinion against it.

And no wonder, at this stage Israel is not very much interested in what is essentially a German drama. They very well know that overzealous pursuits like this over the heads of the American judicial system can ultimately endanger the American public's support to the memory of the Holocaust victims.