Accused Nazi Demjanjuk Charged in Germany

PASSAU, Germany, July 13, 2009 — -- Prosecutors in Munich, Germany, formally charged 89-year-old John Demjanjuk today with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder at a Nazi death camp during World War II.

Today's formal charges against Demjanjuk state that he helped the Nazis commit mass murder against thousands of Jews at Sobibor concentration camp in 1943, in what was then Nazi-occupied Poland, in his capacity as a Nazi-trained guard.

He was part of a group of about 5,000 foreigners helping the Nazis kill tens of thousands of Jews and other people at the camp, which was one of the Nazis' death camps in Eastern Europe, according to the allegations.

Efraim Zuroff, the top Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, welcomed the filing of formal charges.

"This is obviously an important step forward," Zuroff told the Associated Press. "We hope that the trial will be expedited so that justice will be achieved and he can be given the appropriate punishment.

"The effort to bring Demjanjuk to justice sends a very powerful message that the passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrator."

The charges against Demjanjuk, who was deported by U.S. Justice authorities two months ago, were filed with the Bavarian state court in Munich.

A trial date has yet to be announced but Bavarian legal authorities say it could begin this fall.

Munich's state court is in charge because Bavaria was Demjanjuk's last place of residence before he and his family immigrated to the United States in January 1952.

Demjanjuk has undergone a thorough medical evaluation since he arrived in Germany in May and doctors cleared the way for formal charges against him earlier this month, saying he was fit to stand trial with the stipulation that his court attendances should not exceed two 90-minute sessions, per day.