Ohio War Stories: Share Your Memories

From The New York Times | National Briefing | Midwest

A former autoworker from Cleveland who is accused of being a Nazi death camp guard lost another battle in his 30-year fight to maintain his American citizenship and residence. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected a challenge from the man, John Demjanjuk, 87, above, to a final deportation order by the nation’s chief immigration judge. The order would send Mr. Demjanjuk to Germany, Poland or his native Ukraine. The government initially claimed Mr. Demjanjuk was the notoriously sadistic guard at the Treblinka camp known as Ivan the Terrible. Officials later concluded that he was not, but a judge ruled in 2002 that documents from World War II prove Mr. Demjanjuk was a Nazi guard.

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Is it right for the land of the free to expel someone for crimes committed more than half a century ago in another country? Is it right to extradite him to a criminal justice system that has been likened to a shark tank? When and why should America provide asylum to foreign nationals? Stories like Demjanjuk’s raise many difficult questions that are still very relevant and need to be addressed. Not everyone was a hero in World War II, but each story is important and worth telling.