Delayed justice
The Associated Press (AP) has reported that prosecutors have reopened hundreds of dormant investigations of former Nazi death camp guards. These might now be charged under a new precedent set by the conviction of retired US autoworker John Demjanjuk.
Demjanjuk, now 91, was deported from the USA to Germany in 2009 to stand trial. He was convicted in May 2011 of 28,060 counts of accessory to murder, for serving as a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Given the advanced age of the suspects — the youngest are in their 80s — the German prosecutors’ office have told AP that authorities are not even waiting until Demjanjuk’s appeals process is over.
It is suspected there could be ‘under 1000’ possible suspects, who might still be alive and prosecuted, living in Germany and abroad.
