John Demjanjuk, a guard at a Nazi death camp, passed away yesterday at the age of 91, living as a free man.
The monster…convicted last year for aiding in the murder of 28,060 Jews during World War II…died in a senior living facility.
He was residing in the quiet Bavarian town of Bad Feilnbach, Germany, while appealing a five-year prison sentence.
Born in Ukraine, Demjanjuk facilitated the movement of new arrivals down a pathway known as the “Road to Heaven,” leading them to deceptive shower blocks where they were ultimately gassed.
Most individuals perished within two hours of reaching the Sobibor camp in Poland, where approximately 250,000 lost their lives.
Demjanjuk was convicted of being an accessory to mass murder for the six months he was present there in 1943. Following the war, he fled to Ohio, USA, adopting the name John from Ivan, and took a job as a mechanic at Ford. However, his past surfaced when authorities located his SS ID card; he claimed it was counterfeit but was extradited to Germany in 2009 for what became known as The Last Nazi War Trial.
Following his conviction, a Munich court prohibited him from leaving Germany throughout the appeal process.
Yesterday, relatives of the victims from the camp expressed their belief that Demjanjuk should have spent his final years in prison. Helen Hyde, 64, from Radlett, Herts, commented, “I am disappointed it did not come to that for all the people who suffered.”
Demjanjuk’s son John, 46, defended his father, calling him a “victim” of the war and added, “History will show Germany used him as a scapegoat.”
by Mike Hansom
