Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Demjanjuk supporters pin hopes on hearing Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 17:03:26 EST Message-ID: \SE A \SS (WS) \HD Demjanjuk supporters pin hopes on hearing \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT NASHVILLE, Tenn. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tales of Nazi atrocities and government intrigue echo in a federal courtroom in a legal journey that began in Ohio, moved to Israel and landed in Tennessee. Supporters of John Demjanjuk, who was extradited to Israel to be tried for committing war crimes as a Nazi death camp guard known as "Ivan the Terrible," listened last week as a judge began investigating whether the U.S. government hid evidence that it might have the wrong man. Demjanjuk, 72, a retired Cleveland auto worker, was stripped of his U.S. citizenship in 1981 on charges that he lied about his Nazi past. He was extradited to Israel in 1986 and convicted of committing atrocities at the Treblinka death camp in Poland during World War II. He is appealing his death sentence. Key testimony at his trial in Israel came from five Treblinka survivors who identified Demjanjuk as "Ivan," the sadistic operator of the camp's gas chambers. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which approved the extradition warrant, reopened the case in June on its own initiative after an Israeli prosecutor admitted some doubts about Demjanjuk's conviction. A special master was named to investigate further after a U.S. attorney admitted that the Justice Department didn't reveal some evidence; she argued that the material wasn't relevant. Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian native, maintains he is a victim of mistaken identity. He said he was held as a German prisoner of war and was never at Treblinka. The special master, U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Wiseman of Nashville, will report to the 6th Circuit when he finishes hearing evidence. It will be up to the appeals court to make a final ruling. Israeli authorities ultimately will decide Demjanjuk's fate. Judge Wiseman heard two days of testimony last week. The hearing will resume Dec. 21 and will probably end in early 1993. Ed Nishnic, Demjanjuk's son-in-law, has compiled exhibit after exhibit to bolster the family's case that Demjanjuk is innocent. "I feel certain the Israeli court will either reverse Demjanjuk's conviction or, at least, wait until these proceedings end because I believe we have strong evidence," Mr. Nishnic said. "After I'm gone, our children will continue to fight and we will carry this on for as many generations as necessary." Much of the evidence, he said, was obtained from a Justice Department trash bin in Washington by an unidentified searcher. Mr. Nishnic said he is more than $100,000 in debt and has remortgaged Demjanjuk's home in the Cleveland suburb of Seven Hills to clear his father-in-law's name. John Demjanjuk Jr., 27, attended the hearing with Mr. Nishnic. He said he was 12 when his father first was arrested. "This has been a long time coming, but the culmination will be when it goes back to the 6th Circuit," he said. "A year ago, I would never have dreamed this would happen." The elder Demjanjuk has two grandchildren he has never seen, a girl 3-years-old and one 4-weeks-old. Last week, Demjanjuk's public defender, Ed Marek, produced documents he said showed that Nazi-hunting lawyers in the Justice Department withheld evidence that could show Demjanjuk's claim of innocence was true. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM