Germany - Nazi guard Demjanjuk dead at 91. Took part in killing of nearly 28,000 Jews at Sobibor camp in Poland

Published on Mar 17, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.com/ The former Nazi concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk has died at a care home in Germany aged 91.

He was convicted by a court in Munich last year but was released from prison after having spent two years in detention during the court case.

Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk had lived in the United States since the 1950s, but was extradited to Germany in 2009 to face trial.

It was not his first time before a judge.

In 1986, he was extradited to Israel after former inmates at Treblinka death camp accused him of being one of the most ruthless executioners there.

Demnjanjuk was condemned to death, but doubts lingered over his identity. The Israeli Supreme Court overturned the verdict, and he returned to the US.

The guard, known as 'Ivan the Terrible', said he had been drafted into the Soviet Red Army but was captured by the Nazis in 1942.

Demjanjuk had admitted working in various Nazi camps after that, but said he had been forced to by his captors.

The court in Munich had no doubt about his identity and convicted him in May 2011 of taking part in the killing of nearly 28,000 Jews at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1943.