With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Demjanjuk health issues taking over trial

John Demjanjuk attends most sessions of his trial in a hospital bed set up in the courtroom, wearing dark sunglasses and a hat pulled down over his face.

The case of the retired Ohio autoworker accused of serving as a Nazi death camp guard — which resumes next week after a monthlong summer break — broke potentially precedent-setting ground when it opened last year.

But it has become increasingly dominated by the 90-year-old defendant's failing health.

Nazi hunters have taken keen interest in the Demjanjuk saga because it's the first time German authorities have prosecuted such a low-ranking suspect on the premise that, even without evidence of a specific crime, simply working at a death camp was enough to be an accessory to murder....
Read entire article at AP