Alleged Nazi Camp Guard Charged 29,000 Times

In this file photo, accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk, center, is confronted by...

In this file photo, accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk, center, is confronted by reporters upon arriving at Federal Court in Cleveland, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005. German prosecutors said Wednesday they have charged retired Ohio auto worker John Demjanjuk with more than 29,000 counts of accessory to murder for his time as a guard at the Nazis' Sobibor death camp, and will seek his extradition from the U.S.

(Jamie-Andrea Yanak/AP Photo)

Retired Ohio auto worker John Demjanjuk was charged Wednesday with 29,000 counts of acting as an accessory to murder while working as a guard at a Nazi death camp in occupied Poland. The arrest warrant could move the 30-year global legal battle over his fate closer to conclusion.

The warrant by a Munich court seeks the deportation or extradition of Demjanjuk, who lives in a Cleveland suburb and denies involvement in the deaths at Sobibor. His family says he is too sick to travel.

The U.S. Justice Department says Demjanjuk, 88, was a Nazi guard and can be deported for falsifying information on his entry and citizenship applications in the 1950s.

The U.S. Supreme Court chose last year not to consider Demjanjuk's appeal against deportation, clearing the way for his removal. But it had been unclear until Wednesday which country would take him — his native Ukraine, Poland or Germany.

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German Justice Ministry spokeswoman Eva Schmierer said it was not clear if the U.S. would automatically deport Demjanjuk, or whether Germany would have to formally seek his extradition.

The case that led to Wednesday's arrest warrant is based partly on recently obtained transport lists of Jewish prisoners who arrived by train at Sobibor during Demjanjuk's tenure at the camp from March to September 1943.

"In this capacity, he participated in the accessory to murder of at least 29,000 people of the Jewish faith," said the Munich prosecutor's office, which is handling the case because Demjanjuk spent time at a refugee camp in the area after the war.

His son, John Demjanjuk Jr., said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that his father is innocent, and is suffering from a blood disorder and acute kidney failure that makes him unfit for international travel.

"Whatever the Germans decide to do, we will continue to fight for justice in this sad case as there has never been any credible evidence of his personal involvement in even one murder, let alone thousands," Demjanjuk Jr. said. "He has never hurt anyone — before, during or after the war. He is a good person as his family, grandchildren, friends and neighbors have always maintained."