A little less than a year ago, I explained why I did not shed a tear, why I did not feel any pity and why I experienced some closure when I heard that Ukraine-born John Demjanjuk, a guard at Sobibor, was found guilty by a German court of taking part in the murder of more than 28,000 Jews, including my relatives, at a death camp in World War II and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Many felt that a five-year sentence was excessive for a 91-year-old man. I wrote at the time, “I cannot ignore nor forget the fact that, because of monsters like Demjanjuk, a 5-year-old de Wind — and thousands upon thousands of other toddlers — never had the chance to even reach the age of nine…”
Demjanjuk was free while appealing his sentence.
Today, Demjanjuk died in a nursing home in the southern Bavarian town of Bad Feilnbach.
I feel sorry for his family.
Read more about Demjanjuk’s life, alleged crimes, trial, sentencing, appeal and about the last years of his life here.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.