The Devil Next Door (2019): Season 1, Episode 1 - The Devil Lives in Cleveland - full transcript
Is he a grandfather from Cleveland or the matzo Ivan the terrible. War crimes from ww2 still being sought and prosecuted all these years later.
[WIND WHIPPING]
[MEN'S CHOIR SINGING]
[CHURCH BELL RINGING]
[MAN 1]
The importance of the story, to me...
It's so American.
Everybody came to America for a new life.
John Demjanjuk came here for a new life.
And several years into it,
it was turned upside down.
[MAN 2] John Demjanjuk had a small house.
He had children. He was a family man.
He fixed the kids' bikes.
He worked at the Ford plant.
He was a normal Cleveland guy.
[MAN 3] He was living the American dream.
He was a good American citizen.
Up until the government came along
and said he was Ivan the Terrible.
[MAN 4] Ivan the Terrible
was one of the cruelest people
who ever existed on the planet Earth.
[MAN 5] This was the man who stood
outside of the gas chambers with a sword
and cut off the breasts of Jewish women.
Who pushed children into the gas chambers,
and did so with a relish.
[WOMAN] Your... Your mind just wants
to... to put a screen up
in front of what really happened,
'cause you... you really don't want to know
that human beings did that to each other.
[INAUDIBLE]
[MAN 6] The man I saw as John Demjanjuk
could have been a monster.
Or he could have been a victim
of wrong identity.
[CHURCH BELLS RINGING]
[MAN 6] In my deepest center of fear
is that I think he could be anybody.
[INSTRUMENTAL THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
You know, it's funny
that I'm back over here in this area now
because I've moved
probably seven, eight times
in my life so far,
and all very close
to the Ukrainian Village.
I keep being brought back here.
We're comin' down the street now
where my grandparents have lived
for the majority of their life.
This was home to me in more than one way.
Seven Hills is a real quiet community.
It's very close-knit.
When you look at the news stories,
you never hear anything bad
coming out of Seven Hills.
The only reason anybody
has ever heard of Seven Hills
would be because of my grandfather's case.
[STATIC CRACKLES]
Charges were filed today against retired
Seven Hills autoworker John Demjanjuk.
The 66-year-old Ukrainian native
is accused of being
a Nazi death camp guard
named Ivan the Terrible.
[REPORTER 1] The death camp guard
who played a major role
in the torture and gas chamber murders
of nearly one million Jews
during World War II.
[REPORTER 2] The charges state
that Demjanjuk was a notorious executioner
in the Nazis' systematic murder
of more than six million Jews.
He's accused of operating the gas chambers
at a death camp called Treblinka
in Poland.
[REPORTER 3] Demjanjuk denies all charges,
claiming he is not Ivan the Terrible,
and it's all a case of mistaken identity.
- [REPORTERS OVERLAPPING]
- [CAR ENGINE STARTS]
[ED JR.] It was a zoo.
There were news crews,
vehicles parked halfway down the street.
Especially here in Cleveland,
to have somebody
that they can portray as this monster,
and as this, you know, villain.
[REPORTER 1] The man many consider
as Ivan the Terrible faces deportation...
[ED JR.] You turn the TV on,
and five out of six news channels
were reporting about my grandfather.
[REPORTER 2] All camera lenses are trained
on this house.
There's a Do Not Disturb sign on the door.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[ED JR.]
He used to have 30, 40 people with signs
standing right here,
where we are right now.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[ED JR.] People protesting
that he's here...
and...
weren't too happy that he was.
Demjanjuk insists
it is a case of mistaken identity.
A Treblinka survivor today insisted...
there was no mistake.
[INTERPRETER] There has not been
a single moment, not today or yesterday,
- [SPEAKING HEBREW]
- not a year ago or 20 years ago,
when this man hasn't been in my mind.
He's there constantly.
[INTERVIEWER] Those witnesses testified
that you herded the Jews
into the gas chamber.
Why would they say that?
I really don't know
why they give that evidence.
But why they give that evidence now?
Why didn't give that evidence in '45,
when the war was ended?
[INTERVIEWER] Were you ever a guard
- in an SS Nazi extermination camp?
- Never. Never. Never.
[NEWSCASTER]
What we are looking at is a case
which may be unprecedented
in international scope.
A naturalized American charged
with war crimes in a 28-page indictment.
It is the biggest case
since Adolf Eichmann was convicted
back in 1962, and it may well be
the last war crimes case
to come out of the Holocaust.
[MAN] Ford was a place that,
if you stayed a week,
you knew you were gonna stay
the rest of your life.
It was family.
The people that came to work at Ford
from Germany, the Ukraine,
- they did their job, hardly ever talked...
- [FLAMES ROAR]
Then they disappeared
into the darkness.
The work was incredibly hard.
It was hot,
it was noisy beyond comprehension.
[SPARKS SIZZLE]
But if you made it
past one or two weeks...
that was it. They never left.
[MACHINERY WHIRRING]
The one thing I remember, when the noise
about what John might have been,
you know, came about,
that's all anybody talked about.
The shit hit the fan.
Everybody was talking about it,
and you never heard
someone say something bad...
about John.
Everybody that worked at Ford
was that way.
[MAN] I think a lot of people in Cleveland
saw themselves in John Demjanjuk.
Someone who came to this country
and got married
and worked hard.
And here was the government coming in
and grabbing him by the scruff of the neck
and hauling him into court, take...
Trying to take away his citizenship,
and that... that scared them.
That scared them.
[HOLODNAK] But...
a sociopath can live among you...
your whole life,
and you don't know it till he eats you.
[MAN] I've spent my career working
at the Office of Special Investigations.
The so-called "Nazi Hunting Unit."
The Demjanjuk case is traceable
to a list of war criminals
in the United States.
Survivor witnesses pointed
to Demjanjuk's photo
and said, "We remember him."
He was the guard they knew at Treblinka.
The gas chamber operator,
Ivan the Terrible.
No decent government could just stand by
and say, "Well, that was then,
and this is now." No.
He had to be removed
from the United States.
Ivan the Terrible was...
one of the cruelest people
who ever existed on the planet Earth.
One point seven million Jews
were annihilated in Poland,
and Ivan the Terrible...
did the dirty work.
Someone who delighted in herding men,
women, children, and babies
into a gas chamber.
Who delighted in using a blade,
I think a sword even,
to, um, torture people,
um, in their final moments.
The horror of it.
The despair of it.
The cruelty of it is...
is so... overwhelming.
One has to... has to struggle
not to think about it all the time.
[MAN]
The United States had no jurisdiction
over John Demjanjuk.
He didn't commit the crime
in an American territory,
and he didn't commit the crime
against Americans.
There's only one way
that you can get a former Nazi hiding
in America.
- [CROWD CLAMORING]
- [RASHKE] He can be deported.
[REPORTER] Demjanjuk,
already stripped of his citizenship
and facing deportation proceedings,
is under a new threat.
For in the most ominous development
of all, the Israeli government is seeking
his extradition as a war criminal.
[IN HEBREW]
At the district court in Jerusalem,
an indictment was served today
against John Demjanjuk,
suspected of being Ivan the Terrible,
the murderer of Treblinka.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[IN ENGLISH] He feels bad
that we have to be out here.
That, you know...
Everything that's going on, to the family,
it... it hurts him.
But we're gonna fully support him
because we care
and we believe in what he's doing,
and we'll back him up all the way.
[MAN] I have nothing
but bottomless sympathy
and feelings for the Demjanjuk family.
They... They felt it to their core
that their father was innocent,
and they did everything
in their power, I believe.
I think they made a lot of mistakes,
but who wouldn't?
It's such a new role
for anybody to take on.
[MAN] We know exactly
the kind of person Ivan the Terrible is,
and that person
is definitely not my father.
He's an innocent man.
They arrested an innocent man.
Now they put an innocent man in jail.
We've got all kinds of information.
They don't want to hear it.
They don't even want it to go to court.
They want to get him out of here,
and they want to keep the medias confused
about it and just get him out of here.
[MAN] Lydia Demjanjuk gave me a call.
At that point in time,
I didn't have any idea...
uh, what the story was,
or whether I wanted to get involved
with anything.
I had a conversation with my dad.
He said, "Go there, see what you think."
So finally, I got there,
and greeted John, who's on the front lawn,
and he's doin' stuff.
And all his flowers everywhere.
Beautiful, green flowers everywhere.
I said, "Ivan the Terrible
doin' all this flower stuff?"
[PARISHIONERS SINGING]
[O'CONNOR] He was the perfect immigrant.
Ukrainian immigrant,
in the Ukrainian community,
going to the Ukrainian church.
He was a great worker at the Ford plant.
Never had a fight, never been arrested,
never got a speeding ticket.
And I'm thinking, "Okay,
maybe he's hiding something."
Maybe he's the best actor on the planet."
I saw all the allegations.
I'm thinking...
"How is this possible
for a human being to do that?"
You've got that image,
and it's very strong.
It goes into your heart,
it goes down into your guts.
It goes everywhere.
I don't care what you say.
I don't care what the proof is,
he's Ivan the Terrible.
[REPORTER] The crucial evidence
in this case was this SS Identity pass
bearing Demjanjuk's name
and accurate personal details.
[INTERVIEWER] Mr. Demjanjuk,
was that your picture?
I don't know.
- [INTERVIEWER] You can't be sure?
- I'm not sure. I don't know.
I never see that picture.
[O'CONNOR] So, I go with Lydia
in the basement.
She said, "Look, I know the story.
I know what's going on."
And she's got piles of documents.
The Justice Department presented evidence
right from the KGB.
"Look, here's Michael Hanusiak."
Here's news from the Ukraine.
Here's who he is.
Here's how they set up the Ukraine.
"Here's how they drive a wedge
between Ukrainians and Jews."
This is typical disinformatia.
And then, at that point, I said,
"I'm gonna see this through."
[SIRENS WAILING IN DISTANCE]
[REPORTER] John Demjanjuk has tried
to disprove accusations
that he was a Nazi concentration camp
guard in Poland.
His fight is being waged
with a new intensity today
by a new attorney, Mark O'Connor.
This man has never had
the right to jury trial,
never had the right to confrontation
of his accusers.
They identified a picture,
and that's the picture
on the phony KGB card
that we have already exposed
to the people and to the court
as being a total fraud.
[REPORTER] White House
communications director Patrick Buchanan
believes the Soviets are trying to frame
the Ukrainian expatriate.
I think the ID card is... is inauthentic.
I think it's a forgery.
[MAN] The only evidence
they had against him
was from the Soviet Union,
and the Soviet evidence
and the Soviet Union cannot be trusted.
[REPORTER]
The Cold War has created a mood of crisis
and suspicion between the East and West.
All the moral values
which this country cherishes
are fundamentally challenged
by a powerful adversary,
which does not wish
these values to survive.
They are the focus of evil
in the modern world.
[MAN]
I suppose one interesting question to ask
is why is the Soviet Union
even passing this information on?
The Soviets took a decent amount of relish
in revealing the fact
that many collaborators
had found sanctuary
in "Western" democracy.
The black hand of the KGB,
which has caused the deaths of millions
of innocent, unarmed men,
women, and children
is now the guiding light
in pinpointing Ukrainian Americans,
and other ethnic non-Russian nationalities
in America,
who are being denounced
as Nazi collaborators and worse.
[DOUGLAS] The other thing is that
there were two pretty anti-Soviet groups
in the United States:
Ukrainian Americans
and Jewish Americans.
Instead of having an alliance
against the Soviets,
the Soviets were trying to drive a wedge
between these two anti-Soviet groups.
[MOWER WHIRRING]
[ALL CHANTING]
Deport the Nazi now! Deport the Nazi now!
I want him out of here before I die.
- [CROWD CLAMORING]
- [MAN] We Ukrainians born
in the United States
will not allow the persecution
of our parents
- in this free country!
- [CROWD CHEERS]
[HENRY] The Ukrainian community
felt just as important
as the Jewish community in Cleveland.
And once each side saw
what was at stake here,
the line was drawn.
[GROUP] Demjanjuk is innocent!
[ALL CHANTING] Your neighbor is a Nazi.
Your neighbor is a Nazi.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[MAN] Leave John alone!
[ALL CHANTING] Let him go home!
What do you know about it?
- [MAN 1] Six million!
- [MEN] Never again!
- Six million!
- [MEN] Never again!
- [MAN 1] Six million!
- [MEN] Never again!
[MAN 2] I pity the man.
I mean, to live and think that, you know,
at any minute, you could die.
At any minute, somebody could walk up
to you and blow your head off
'cause they're a fanatic.
I wish all the people
would stay off this street,
leave the residents in Seven Hills alone.
If you don't live here,
you're not involved in the city, please.
We got to all live
on this planet together,
and if... and if we don't soon start
burying the ax,
things are gonna get out of hand.
[REPORTER 1] Decision time.
Does Demjanjuk stay, or does he go?
[REPORTER 2]
If Demjanjuk loses that battle,
the United States secretary of state
will make the decision
on whether or not to extradite him
to Israel.
[REPORTER 3]
Members of the Ukrainian community
started gathering
outside the federal courthouse
AT 8:30 this morning,
waiting for the decision
to be handed down.
[POLICE SIREN WAILS]
[REPORTER 3] And then it came,
Judge Battisti declaring
John Demjanjuk guilty.
[REPORTER 4] John Demjanjuk
could be extradited to Israel today,
where he will be facing a death sentence
for alleged crimes against humanity.
It's a fraud on the people.
[REPORTER 5] Any reaction at all?
- Did you...
- The blood is now on your hands.
[REPORTER 5] Oh.
Did... Did you say anything at all
to your father?
[HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING]
[SIRENS WAILING]
[REPORTER, IN HEBREW]
Nazi criminal John Demjanjuk
was transferred tonight
to an undisclosed location
from the federal prison in Manhattan.
From there, he'll be transferred
to Kennedy Airport on his way to Israel.
[PLANE ENGINES ROAR]
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
[MAN, IN ENGLISH] Several months
after I started to work
at the Ministry of Justice in Israel,
Dennis Goldman gives me a box,
and he says,
"This box contains the transcripts"
of depositions and trial
"of a man by the name of John Demjanjuk."
When I opened the box, it was unequivocal
that John Demjanjuk was Ivan the Terrible,
the person who stood
outside the gas chamber
in what was called the Himmel Strasse,
the road to heaven.
It was very important
not to let this man get away.
I remember the scene
of his arrival in Israel.
There were bleachers that were set
where the media would stand.
We had drilled it with INS,
uh, to the extent that the US Marshals
would bring him down.
And at that point,
there would be an exchange of the prisoner
to Israeli police officers.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[GABAY] Demjanjuk steps down,
the US Marshals are at his side,
and Demjanjuk turns to him,
somehow explains to him
that he wants to kiss the ground
of the holy land.
The US Marshal says no,
but then he turns to Alex Ish-Shalom
and says he wants to kiss the ground,
and Alex Ish-Shalom says no.
He wanted to show
that here was the very religious man
who could never have killed anyone.
Almost within two hours
of his landing in Israel,
he is interrogated.
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
[GABAY] He sat down.
And when he sat down,
he looked at the detective,
and he said, with a beaming smile,
- Shalom!
- [GABAY] "Shalom."
And he was looking at the investigators
like he was going to toy with them.
[EXCITED CHATTER]
Ah.
[REPORTER 1] How do you feel?
I feel good now, thank you.
[OFFICERS SPEAKING HEBREW]
[ED JR.] Nobody ever accepted
that he's not coming back.
Everybody always tried
to remain optimistic
that, in the end, the truth will prevail.
You know, God will...
God is good, and God'll take care.
Make sure that he comes home
to us safe.
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
[REPORTER, IN HEBREW] American counsel
Mark O'Connor arrived in Israel today
after defending John Demjanjuk
in the US prior to his extradition here.
[O'CONNOR, IN ENGLISH]
I'm pulling up to Ayalon,
and I'm looking at the prison.
And I'm saying, "What is this?"
You got all these psychedelic paintings.
I mean, not just, like, in one spot.
The whole prison is a Picasso painting.
I got through all these different gates,
and the first thing you see
when you walk in
is the area where the two guards sleep.
So, you have the two guards watching him
24 hours a day in a solitary cell.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[O'CONNOR] I'm the first person
from... Cleveland,
you know, over there to see him.
Demjanjuk, in that cell,
kept saying to me,
"What are you gettin' so excited about?"
I said, "What am I getting so..."
You're the guy that's gonna hang.
What are you talkin' about?
Said, "I'm not gonna hang.
I am not gonna hang."
And he's reading his Bible,
and "My guardian angel's here."
I'm a Catholic,
so I'm not gonna put down
guardian angels, okay?
So I'm sayin',
"I don't know what's going on here."
[REPORTER] He has 90 days to get ready.
The trial should start
just before New Year's Day.
[O'CONNOR]
There's still a... a blending going on,
uh, between Demjanjuk
and Ivan the Terrible,
and I think
these experienced trial judges...
[IN HEBREW] Mr. O'Connor,
he looked for an Israeli attorney...
who would help them
understand Israeli law,
but he couldn't find any.
Fifteen Israeli attorneys
so far have refused
to assist
in the defense of John Demjanjuk.
[IN ENGLISH] Pressure.
Who wants to put their whole career
on the line?
What if he is Ivan the Terrible?
I couldn't spend $600,000,
I couldn't spend $400,000,
because I am doing this on my own.
That's why I didn't come forward.
[KLIEGER, IN HEBREW]
They spent months looking
for a lawyer, and no one would do it.
No one wanted to be involved.
Then, they found Sheftel.
[CROWS CAWING IN DISTANCE]
[MAN, IN ENGLISH]
There is a Yiddish expression,
uh, called... [SPEAKS YIDDISH]
It's a person that refuse
to obey the general norms,
and to behave exactly as expected.
- A troublemaker.
- [INTERVIEWER] And you enjoy being this?
Uh, yes, yes.
I don't have to put
too much effort towards it.
It's come out of me naturally.
After ten years, uh,
acting as a defense lawyer,
I came to a definite description
of, uh, the Israeli prosecution
as a factory of travesty of justice.
- [REPORTER] Are you innocent?
- I'm an innocent man. I'm wrong man.
[SHEFTEL] I heard about Ivan the Terrible
before he was extradited
from the US to Israel.
I was, uh, like any other Israeli,
positively convinced
that Ivan the Terrible is John Demjanjuk.
I had no doubt whatsoever.
I started, I don't know why.
Don't have any... any explanation why,
but I started to think about it
almost every day.
Looking for every piece of information
in any newspaper or radio
or television whatsoever.
It occurred to me that the essence
of the evidence against him...
may be very flawed.
The entire adventure...
may be a shocking farce.
I said to O'Connor, "I'm in the case."
The man is not Ivan the Terrible."
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
[GABAY] The first time that I saw Sheftel,
he embodied, for me, a traitor.
[HENRY] I thought of Sheftel
as being a showman at first.
A showboat, I should say.
He was quite...
uh, larger than life.
[KLIEGER, IN HEBREW] I can't tell you
what I think about Sheftel,
because he'd sue me immediately.
But I'm sorry
that there are Jews like Sheftel.
I'm ashamed of it.
Yoram,
let's say you're defending a murderer,
and for some reason or another,
you can build him a stellar defense.
Would you get him acquitted?
With enthusiasm.
[IN ENGLISH] A person is entitled
to a defense. I understand.
I saw Sheftel's involvement
such that he had
a little bit too much of a relish
to get Mr. Demjanjuk found not guilty.
I have no respect for him.
None.
[NEWS FANFARE PLAYS]
[YOUNGER HENRY] Reporters
and photographers are arriving here daily.
Most are here
for the duration of what they call
the trial of the decade.
[HENRY] When this story came up
and I was assigned to get on an airplane
to fly over to Jerusalem,
I didn't know the true scope of the story
until I got there and saw the interest.
Everybody had a complete understanding
of what the evidence was against this man,
from the way he looked,
from the way he spoke.
You could tell their minds
were pretty much made up.
If you ask me, I think he's guilty.
I think he is guilty.
If this guy is guilty,
well, then, he's got to pay the price.
[HENRY] Most people had
a stronger opinion than I did.
That I can be sure of
'cause they all said,
"There's no doubt that he's guilty.
It'll be over in a nanosecond."
I don't think I have the capacity,
'cause somewhere in my mind
is always the little nagging voice saying,
"Are you sure you've got
enough information?
Are you sure
you're not gonna be making a mistake?"
And that's exactly how I felt
in that courtroom in... in Jerusalem.
[REPORTER]
The city of Jerusalem has been gearing up
for the Demjanjuk trial for the past year,
and finally,
the trial is set to start here
at the city's
sprawling convention complex.
When it starts, the trial
will be conducted here
under very tight security.
Soldiers and police
will be on duty everywhere,
providing extraordinary protection
during the entire length
of the court case.
The newspapers here are reporting
the Demjanjuk case extensively.
Television has weighed the merits
of the trial for months.
And soon, the actual court case begins.
We're still confident
that justice will be done,
and my father will be exonerated.
And there won't be another...
crucifixion.
[REPORTER, IN HEBREW] Where did
you come from at this early hour?
Ramat Gan.
- [REPORTER] Why?
- Why?
[TAKES A DEEP BREATH]
I told you. I lost them all.
[IN ENGLISH] The three-judge panel
begins hearing the Demjanjuk case
in this courtroom
within the next two hours.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[REPORTER 1, IN HEBREW] Each visitor's
personal details were logged,
and metal objects caused
the metal detector to buzz.
[REPORTER 2]
What would you like the outcome to be?
I want him to hang.
I'd hang him myself.
Or burn him.
[REPORTER 1] A FEW MINUTES AFTER 7:00,
two hours before the trial
is set to begin,
John Demjanjuk is brought in
from Ayalon Prison.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[REPORTER 3, IN ENGLISH] The man
Israelis say is the Butcher of Treblinka
went on trial in Jerusalem today.
[IN HEBREW]
The John Demjanjuk trial began today
at the International Convention Center
in Jerusalem.
[REPORTER 4, IN ENGLISH]
This is so much more
than a trial of one man's guilt.
This is a hearing of history.
When Eichmann was on trial,
my mother made me watch it.
Now Demjanjuk is on trial,
and I want my child to watch it.
This is the only safeguard we have
that it never happens again.
All the research I'd done,
all, everything...
This was the culmination
of years and years.
Here I am,
one or two hours of sleep,
going on adrenaline,
having to be ready.
[SHEFTEL] This is a case of...
establishment atrocity
from bottom to top.
A cover-up and a frame-up...
in a show trial.
[LIGHT SWITCH CLICKS]
[SHEFTEL] I was hundred percent convinced
that Demjanjuk is not Ivan the Terrible.
Yet, I'm convinced hundred percent
that he would be found guilty
and sentenced to death.
But I was sure...
that I would manage
to destroy the show.
[TELEVISION BEEPS]
[CROWD SHOUTING AND CHANTING]
[IN HEBREW] All rise!
[SILENCE FALLS]
Case 3736, State of Israel
vs. John Ivan Demjanjuk.
The accused will rise.
- Please state your name.
- Uh...
[LEVIN] What's your name?
Uh...
[IN UKRAINIAN] Honorable court,
my name is John Demjanjuk.
[LEVIN, IN HEBREW] I must warn you,
that you must tell the truth
and the whole truth.
If you don't,
you will be punished by law.
[IN ENGLISH] John, you're being accused
of being at Treblinka
and participating in the horrendous crimes
at that death killing camp.
Uh, would you tell the court,
at this instance,
what your answer is with regard
to you ever being at that location
and perpetrating any of these crimes?
[MICROPHONE FEEDBACK SQUEALS]
[IN UKRAINIAN] The honorable bench,
I'm accused here of having been
at Treblinka.
This is not true.
I was never either
at Treblinka or Sobibor
or at any other such place.
Because I am not Ivan the Terrible.
And the most just witness to this
is God himself.
I am innocent, innocent, innocent.
[AUDIENCE MURMURS]
[MAN, IN ENGLISH]
I studied Demjanuk's character,
Demjanjuk's reaction.
I realized he will never confess.
He would rather stay and maybe die
as the father and the grandfather
uh, that he was later on in Cleveland.
In every normal criminal case,
you have a scene of crime.
But the Nazis, they have burnt
and destroyed most of the evidence.
The same goes to eyewitnesses.
I mean, most of them were exterminated
by the Germans.
And yet, I have to lead this trial.
[WHISPERS INDISTINCTLY]
[IN HEBREW] The prosecution
would like to invite Pinchas Epstein.
[IN ENGLISH] This trial was filled
with so much passion,
so much pain, and so much history.
Survivors were dying every day.
And this was a last glimpse and effort
to hear them,
to put it in language, and to listen.
[YOUNGER SHAKED, IN HEBREW]
I would ask of you
to start with your date of birth.
I am Epstein Pinchas,
son of Dov and Sara.
I was born in Czestochowa
on March 3, 1925.
I understand that, from the moment
you arrived at the death camp,
you were assigned to carry bodies
from the gas chambers to the pits.
[PINCHAS] Correct.
I sat at a spot where I could see
the engine of the gas chambers.
It was the machine house.
And I saw a man
come out of the gas chamber.
Later, I learned his name was Ivan.
Ivan the Terrible.
[CLEARS THROAT]
[TAKES A DEEP BREATH]
I saw a large man,
and he was operating the engine.
They ordered to open the doors
and take out the corpses.
This Ivan would come out
of the engine room
and beat us with his pipe.
Sometimes he would carry a sword.
And he would crush skulls,
cut ears, and torture the prisoners.
It was unbelievable.
Your Honors, we took out corpses.
It was horrific to see.
People with crushed faces,
people with knife wounds,
pregnant women stabbed in the gut,
people with eyes poked out.
There are no words.
One day a living girl
came out of the gas chambers.
About 12 years old.
HER WORDS STILL RING IN MY EARS:
"Yachtse du mamoshy."
- [LEVIN] What do these words mean?
- [VOICE BREAKING] "I want my mommy."
[CRYING] I have a granddaughter her age.
Then they took her to the pit
and shot her.
Your Honors, I see Ivan every night.
I want to...
My poor wife. I dream of him every night.
I see him every night.
He is engraved in my memory.
I cannot escape him.
I see Ivan here, in front of me,
as I remember him, as he lives in my mind.
There he is, as he stands here!
Here he stands!
[LEVIN] Mr. Epstein!
[AUDIENCE MURMURING]
Age has taken its toll, it's obvious,
but not as much as to not know the man.
I see him, I see him, I see him.
- [MAN] Murderer!
- [IRENE] Shh!
[SHOUTING IN HEBREW]
[TAL] Be seated!
- [CONTINUES SHOUTING]
- [LEVIN SPEAKS HEBREW]
[SHEFTEL, IN ENGLISH]
There is full entitlement
to seek brutal...
merciless revenge
from Ivan the Terrible.
I see a lot of value in revenge
against the proper person,
not against a retired autoworker
which was mistakenly thought
to be Ivan the Terrible...
as a victim of a conspiracy.
[SUSPENSEFUL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
[MEN'S CHOIR SINGING]
[CHURCH BELL RINGING]
[MAN 1]
The importance of the story, to me...
It's so American.
Everybody came to America for a new life.
John Demjanjuk came here for a new life.
And several years into it,
it was turned upside down.
[MAN 2] John Demjanjuk had a small house.
He had children. He was a family man.
He fixed the kids' bikes.
He worked at the Ford plant.
He was a normal Cleveland guy.
[MAN 3] He was living the American dream.
He was a good American citizen.
Up until the government came along
and said he was Ivan the Terrible.
[MAN 4] Ivan the Terrible
was one of the cruelest people
who ever existed on the planet Earth.
[MAN 5] This was the man who stood
outside of the gas chambers with a sword
and cut off the breasts of Jewish women.
Who pushed children into the gas chambers,
and did so with a relish.
[WOMAN] Your... Your mind just wants
to... to put a screen up
in front of what really happened,
'cause you... you really don't want to know
that human beings did that to each other.
[INAUDIBLE]
[MAN 6] The man I saw as John Demjanjuk
could have been a monster.
Or he could have been a victim
of wrong identity.
[CHURCH BELLS RINGING]
[MAN 6] In my deepest center of fear
is that I think he could be anybody.
[INSTRUMENTAL THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
You know, it's funny
that I'm back over here in this area now
because I've moved
probably seven, eight times
in my life so far,
and all very close
to the Ukrainian Village.
I keep being brought back here.
We're comin' down the street now
where my grandparents have lived
for the majority of their life.
This was home to me in more than one way.
Seven Hills is a real quiet community.
It's very close-knit.
When you look at the news stories,
you never hear anything bad
coming out of Seven Hills.
The only reason anybody
has ever heard of Seven Hills
would be because of my grandfather's case.
[STATIC CRACKLES]
Charges were filed today against retired
Seven Hills autoworker John Demjanjuk.
The 66-year-old Ukrainian native
is accused of being
a Nazi death camp guard
named Ivan the Terrible.
[REPORTER 1] The death camp guard
who played a major role
in the torture and gas chamber murders
of nearly one million Jews
during World War II.
[REPORTER 2] The charges state
that Demjanjuk was a notorious executioner
in the Nazis' systematic murder
of more than six million Jews.
He's accused of operating the gas chambers
at a death camp called Treblinka
in Poland.
[REPORTER 3] Demjanjuk denies all charges,
claiming he is not Ivan the Terrible,
and it's all a case of mistaken identity.
- [REPORTERS OVERLAPPING]
- [CAR ENGINE STARTS]
[ED JR.] It was a zoo.
There were news crews,
vehicles parked halfway down the street.
Especially here in Cleveland,
to have somebody
that they can portray as this monster,
and as this, you know, villain.
[REPORTER 1] The man many consider
as Ivan the Terrible faces deportation...
[ED JR.] You turn the TV on,
and five out of six news channels
were reporting about my grandfather.
[REPORTER 2] All camera lenses are trained
on this house.
There's a Do Not Disturb sign on the door.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[ED JR.]
He used to have 30, 40 people with signs
standing right here,
where we are right now.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[ED JR.] People protesting
that he's here...
and...
weren't too happy that he was.
Demjanjuk insists
it is a case of mistaken identity.
A Treblinka survivor today insisted...
there was no mistake.
[INTERPRETER] There has not been
a single moment, not today or yesterday,
- [SPEAKING HEBREW]
- not a year ago or 20 years ago,
when this man hasn't been in my mind.
He's there constantly.
[INTERVIEWER] Those witnesses testified
that you herded the Jews
into the gas chamber.
Why would they say that?
I really don't know
why they give that evidence.
But why they give that evidence now?
Why didn't give that evidence in '45,
when the war was ended?
[INTERVIEWER] Were you ever a guard
- in an SS Nazi extermination camp?
- Never. Never. Never.
[NEWSCASTER]
What we are looking at is a case
which may be unprecedented
in international scope.
A naturalized American charged
with war crimes in a 28-page indictment.
It is the biggest case
since Adolf Eichmann was convicted
back in 1962, and it may well be
the last war crimes case
to come out of the Holocaust.
[MAN] Ford was a place that,
if you stayed a week,
you knew you were gonna stay
the rest of your life.
It was family.
The people that came to work at Ford
from Germany, the Ukraine,
- they did their job, hardly ever talked...
- [FLAMES ROAR]
Then they disappeared
into the darkness.
The work was incredibly hard.
It was hot,
it was noisy beyond comprehension.
[SPARKS SIZZLE]
But if you made it
past one or two weeks...
that was it. They never left.
[MACHINERY WHIRRING]
The one thing I remember, when the noise
about what John might have been,
you know, came about,
that's all anybody talked about.
The shit hit the fan.
Everybody was talking about it,
and you never heard
someone say something bad...
about John.
Everybody that worked at Ford
was that way.
[MAN] I think a lot of people in Cleveland
saw themselves in John Demjanjuk.
Someone who came to this country
and got married
and worked hard.
And here was the government coming in
and grabbing him by the scruff of the neck
and hauling him into court, take...
Trying to take away his citizenship,
and that... that scared them.
That scared them.
[HOLODNAK] But...
a sociopath can live among you...
your whole life,
and you don't know it till he eats you.
[MAN] I've spent my career working
at the Office of Special Investigations.
The so-called "Nazi Hunting Unit."
The Demjanjuk case is traceable
to a list of war criminals
in the United States.
Survivor witnesses pointed
to Demjanjuk's photo
and said, "We remember him."
He was the guard they knew at Treblinka.
The gas chamber operator,
Ivan the Terrible.
No decent government could just stand by
and say, "Well, that was then,
and this is now." No.
He had to be removed
from the United States.
Ivan the Terrible was...
one of the cruelest people
who ever existed on the planet Earth.
One point seven million Jews
were annihilated in Poland,
and Ivan the Terrible...
did the dirty work.
Someone who delighted in herding men,
women, children, and babies
into a gas chamber.
Who delighted in using a blade,
I think a sword even,
to, um, torture people,
um, in their final moments.
The horror of it.
The despair of it.
The cruelty of it is...
is so... overwhelming.
One has to... has to struggle
not to think about it all the time.
[MAN]
The United States had no jurisdiction
over John Demjanjuk.
He didn't commit the crime
in an American territory,
and he didn't commit the crime
against Americans.
There's only one way
that you can get a former Nazi hiding
in America.
- [CROWD CLAMORING]
- [RASHKE] He can be deported.
[REPORTER] Demjanjuk,
already stripped of his citizenship
and facing deportation proceedings,
is under a new threat.
For in the most ominous development
of all, the Israeli government is seeking
his extradition as a war criminal.
[IN HEBREW]
At the district court in Jerusalem,
an indictment was served today
against John Demjanjuk,
suspected of being Ivan the Terrible,
the murderer of Treblinka.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[IN ENGLISH] He feels bad
that we have to be out here.
That, you know...
Everything that's going on, to the family,
it... it hurts him.
But we're gonna fully support him
because we care
and we believe in what he's doing,
and we'll back him up all the way.
[MAN] I have nothing
but bottomless sympathy
and feelings for the Demjanjuk family.
They... They felt it to their core
that their father was innocent,
and they did everything
in their power, I believe.
I think they made a lot of mistakes,
but who wouldn't?
It's such a new role
for anybody to take on.
[MAN] We know exactly
the kind of person Ivan the Terrible is,
and that person
is definitely not my father.
He's an innocent man.
They arrested an innocent man.
Now they put an innocent man in jail.
We've got all kinds of information.
They don't want to hear it.
They don't even want it to go to court.
They want to get him out of here,
and they want to keep the medias confused
about it and just get him out of here.
[MAN] Lydia Demjanjuk gave me a call.
At that point in time,
I didn't have any idea...
uh, what the story was,
or whether I wanted to get involved
with anything.
I had a conversation with my dad.
He said, "Go there, see what you think."
So finally, I got there,
and greeted John, who's on the front lawn,
and he's doin' stuff.
And all his flowers everywhere.
Beautiful, green flowers everywhere.
I said, "Ivan the Terrible
doin' all this flower stuff?"
[PARISHIONERS SINGING]
[O'CONNOR] He was the perfect immigrant.
Ukrainian immigrant,
in the Ukrainian community,
going to the Ukrainian church.
He was a great worker at the Ford plant.
Never had a fight, never been arrested,
never got a speeding ticket.
And I'm thinking, "Okay,
maybe he's hiding something."
Maybe he's the best actor on the planet."
I saw all the allegations.
I'm thinking...
"How is this possible
for a human being to do that?"
You've got that image,
and it's very strong.
It goes into your heart,
it goes down into your guts.
It goes everywhere.
I don't care what you say.
I don't care what the proof is,
he's Ivan the Terrible.
[REPORTER] The crucial evidence
in this case was this SS Identity pass
bearing Demjanjuk's name
and accurate personal details.
[INTERVIEWER] Mr. Demjanjuk,
was that your picture?
I don't know.
- [INTERVIEWER] You can't be sure?
- I'm not sure. I don't know.
I never see that picture.
[O'CONNOR] So, I go with Lydia
in the basement.
She said, "Look, I know the story.
I know what's going on."
And she's got piles of documents.
The Justice Department presented evidence
right from the KGB.
"Look, here's Michael Hanusiak."
Here's news from the Ukraine.
Here's who he is.
Here's how they set up the Ukraine.
"Here's how they drive a wedge
between Ukrainians and Jews."
This is typical disinformatia.
And then, at that point, I said,
"I'm gonna see this through."
[SIRENS WAILING IN DISTANCE]
[REPORTER] John Demjanjuk has tried
to disprove accusations
that he was a Nazi concentration camp
guard in Poland.
His fight is being waged
with a new intensity today
by a new attorney, Mark O'Connor.
This man has never had
the right to jury trial,
never had the right to confrontation
of his accusers.
They identified a picture,
and that's the picture
on the phony KGB card
that we have already exposed
to the people and to the court
as being a total fraud.
[REPORTER] White House
communications director Patrick Buchanan
believes the Soviets are trying to frame
the Ukrainian expatriate.
I think the ID card is... is inauthentic.
I think it's a forgery.
[MAN] The only evidence
they had against him
was from the Soviet Union,
and the Soviet evidence
and the Soviet Union cannot be trusted.
[REPORTER]
The Cold War has created a mood of crisis
and suspicion between the East and West.
All the moral values
which this country cherishes
are fundamentally challenged
by a powerful adversary,
which does not wish
these values to survive.
They are the focus of evil
in the modern world.
[MAN]
I suppose one interesting question to ask
is why is the Soviet Union
even passing this information on?
The Soviets took a decent amount of relish
in revealing the fact
that many collaborators
had found sanctuary
in "Western" democracy.
The black hand of the KGB,
which has caused the deaths of millions
of innocent, unarmed men,
women, and children
is now the guiding light
in pinpointing Ukrainian Americans,
and other ethnic non-Russian nationalities
in America,
who are being denounced
as Nazi collaborators and worse.
[DOUGLAS] The other thing is that
there were two pretty anti-Soviet groups
in the United States:
Ukrainian Americans
and Jewish Americans.
Instead of having an alliance
against the Soviets,
the Soviets were trying to drive a wedge
between these two anti-Soviet groups.
[MOWER WHIRRING]
[ALL CHANTING]
Deport the Nazi now! Deport the Nazi now!
I want him out of here before I die.
- [CROWD CLAMORING]
- [MAN] We Ukrainians born
in the United States
will not allow the persecution
of our parents
- in this free country!
- [CROWD CHEERS]
[HENRY] The Ukrainian community
felt just as important
as the Jewish community in Cleveland.
And once each side saw
what was at stake here,
the line was drawn.
[GROUP] Demjanjuk is innocent!
[ALL CHANTING] Your neighbor is a Nazi.
Your neighbor is a Nazi.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[MAN] Leave John alone!
[ALL CHANTING] Let him go home!
What do you know about it?
- [MAN 1] Six million!
- [MEN] Never again!
- Six million!
- [MEN] Never again!
- [MAN 1] Six million!
- [MEN] Never again!
[MAN 2] I pity the man.
I mean, to live and think that, you know,
at any minute, you could die.
At any minute, somebody could walk up
to you and blow your head off
'cause they're a fanatic.
I wish all the people
would stay off this street,
leave the residents in Seven Hills alone.
If you don't live here,
you're not involved in the city, please.
We got to all live
on this planet together,
and if... and if we don't soon start
burying the ax,
things are gonna get out of hand.
[REPORTER 1] Decision time.
Does Demjanjuk stay, or does he go?
[REPORTER 2]
If Demjanjuk loses that battle,
the United States secretary of state
will make the decision
on whether or not to extradite him
to Israel.
[REPORTER 3]
Members of the Ukrainian community
started gathering
outside the federal courthouse
AT 8:30 this morning,
waiting for the decision
to be handed down.
[POLICE SIREN WAILS]
[REPORTER 3] And then it came,
Judge Battisti declaring
John Demjanjuk guilty.
[REPORTER 4] John Demjanjuk
could be extradited to Israel today,
where he will be facing a death sentence
for alleged crimes against humanity.
It's a fraud on the people.
[REPORTER 5] Any reaction at all?
- Did you...
- The blood is now on your hands.
[REPORTER 5] Oh.
Did... Did you say anything at all
to your father?
[HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING]
[SIRENS WAILING]
[REPORTER, IN HEBREW]
Nazi criminal John Demjanjuk
was transferred tonight
to an undisclosed location
from the federal prison in Manhattan.
From there, he'll be transferred
to Kennedy Airport on his way to Israel.
[PLANE ENGINES ROAR]
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
[MAN, IN ENGLISH] Several months
after I started to work
at the Ministry of Justice in Israel,
Dennis Goldman gives me a box,
and he says,
"This box contains the transcripts"
of depositions and trial
"of a man by the name of John Demjanjuk."
When I opened the box, it was unequivocal
that John Demjanjuk was Ivan the Terrible,
the person who stood
outside the gas chamber
in what was called the Himmel Strasse,
the road to heaven.
It was very important
not to let this man get away.
I remember the scene
of his arrival in Israel.
There were bleachers that were set
where the media would stand.
We had drilled it with INS,
uh, to the extent that the US Marshals
would bring him down.
And at that point,
there would be an exchange of the prisoner
to Israeli police officers.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[GABAY] Demjanjuk steps down,
the US Marshals are at his side,
and Demjanjuk turns to him,
somehow explains to him
that he wants to kiss the ground
of the holy land.
The US Marshal says no,
but then he turns to Alex Ish-Shalom
and says he wants to kiss the ground,
and Alex Ish-Shalom says no.
He wanted to show
that here was the very religious man
who could never have killed anyone.
Almost within two hours
of his landing in Israel,
he is interrogated.
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
[GABAY] He sat down.
And when he sat down,
he looked at the detective,
and he said, with a beaming smile,
- Shalom!
- [GABAY] "Shalom."
And he was looking at the investigators
like he was going to toy with them.
[EXCITED CHATTER]
Ah.
[REPORTER 1] How do you feel?
I feel good now, thank you.
[OFFICERS SPEAKING HEBREW]
[ED JR.] Nobody ever accepted
that he's not coming back.
Everybody always tried
to remain optimistic
that, in the end, the truth will prevail.
You know, God will...
God is good, and God'll take care.
Make sure that he comes home
to us safe.
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
[REPORTER, IN HEBREW] American counsel
Mark O'Connor arrived in Israel today
after defending John Demjanjuk
in the US prior to his extradition here.
[O'CONNOR, IN ENGLISH]
I'm pulling up to Ayalon,
and I'm looking at the prison.
And I'm saying, "What is this?"
You got all these psychedelic paintings.
I mean, not just, like, in one spot.
The whole prison is a Picasso painting.
I got through all these different gates,
and the first thing you see
when you walk in
is the area where the two guards sleep.
So, you have the two guards watching him
24 hours a day in a solitary cell.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[O'CONNOR] I'm the first person
from... Cleveland,
you know, over there to see him.
Demjanjuk, in that cell,
kept saying to me,
"What are you gettin' so excited about?"
I said, "What am I getting so..."
You're the guy that's gonna hang.
What are you talkin' about?
Said, "I'm not gonna hang.
I am not gonna hang."
And he's reading his Bible,
and "My guardian angel's here."
I'm a Catholic,
so I'm not gonna put down
guardian angels, okay?
So I'm sayin',
"I don't know what's going on here."
[REPORTER] He has 90 days to get ready.
The trial should start
just before New Year's Day.
[O'CONNOR]
There's still a... a blending going on,
uh, between Demjanjuk
and Ivan the Terrible,
and I think
these experienced trial judges...
[IN HEBREW] Mr. O'Connor,
he looked for an Israeli attorney...
who would help them
understand Israeli law,
but he couldn't find any.
Fifteen Israeli attorneys
so far have refused
to assist
in the defense of John Demjanjuk.
[IN ENGLISH] Pressure.
Who wants to put their whole career
on the line?
What if he is Ivan the Terrible?
I couldn't spend $600,000,
I couldn't spend $400,000,
because I am doing this on my own.
That's why I didn't come forward.
[KLIEGER, IN HEBREW]
They spent months looking
for a lawyer, and no one would do it.
No one wanted to be involved.
Then, they found Sheftel.
[CROWS CAWING IN DISTANCE]
[MAN, IN ENGLISH]
There is a Yiddish expression,
uh, called... [SPEAKS YIDDISH]
It's a person that refuse
to obey the general norms,
and to behave exactly as expected.
- A troublemaker.
- [INTERVIEWER] And you enjoy being this?
Uh, yes, yes.
I don't have to put
too much effort towards it.
It's come out of me naturally.
After ten years, uh,
acting as a defense lawyer,
I came to a definite description
of, uh, the Israeli prosecution
as a factory of travesty of justice.
- [REPORTER] Are you innocent?
- I'm an innocent man. I'm wrong man.
[SHEFTEL] I heard about Ivan the Terrible
before he was extradited
from the US to Israel.
I was, uh, like any other Israeli,
positively convinced
that Ivan the Terrible is John Demjanjuk.
I had no doubt whatsoever.
I started, I don't know why.
Don't have any... any explanation why,
but I started to think about it
almost every day.
Looking for every piece of information
in any newspaper or radio
or television whatsoever.
It occurred to me that the essence
of the evidence against him...
may be very flawed.
The entire adventure...
may be a shocking farce.
I said to O'Connor, "I'm in the case."
The man is not Ivan the Terrible."
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
[GABAY] The first time that I saw Sheftel,
he embodied, for me, a traitor.
[HENRY] I thought of Sheftel
as being a showman at first.
A showboat, I should say.
He was quite...
uh, larger than life.
[KLIEGER, IN HEBREW] I can't tell you
what I think about Sheftel,
because he'd sue me immediately.
But I'm sorry
that there are Jews like Sheftel.
I'm ashamed of it.
Yoram,
let's say you're defending a murderer,
and for some reason or another,
you can build him a stellar defense.
Would you get him acquitted?
With enthusiasm.
[IN ENGLISH] A person is entitled
to a defense. I understand.
I saw Sheftel's involvement
such that he had
a little bit too much of a relish
to get Mr. Demjanjuk found not guilty.
I have no respect for him.
None.
[NEWS FANFARE PLAYS]
[YOUNGER HENRY] Reporters
and photographers are arriving here daily.
Most are here
for the duration of what they call
the trial of the decade.
[HENRY] When this story came up
and I was assigned to get on an airplane
to fly over to Jerusalem,
I didn't know the true scope of the story
until I got there and saw the interest.
Everybody had a complete understanding
of what the evidence was against this man,
from the way he looked,
from the way he spoke.
You could tell their minds
were pretty much made up.
If you ask me, I think he's guilty.
I think he is guilty.
If this guy is guilty,
well, then, he's got to pay the price.
[HENRY] Most people had
a stronger opinion than I did.
That I can be sure of
'cause they all said,
"There's no doubt that he's guilty.
It'll be over in a nanosecond."
I don't think I have the capacity,
'cause somewhere in my mind
is always the little nagging voice saying,
"Are you sure you've got
enough information?
Are you sure
you're not gonna be making a mistake?"
And that's exactly how I felt
in that courtroom in... in Jerusalem.
[REPORTER]
The city of Jerusalem has been gearing up
for the Demjanjuk trial for the past year,
and finally,
the trial is set to start here
at the city's
sprawling convention complex.
When it starts, the trial
will be conducted here
under very tight security.
Soldiers and police
will be on duty everywhere,
providing extraordinary protection
during the entire length
of the court case.
The newspapers here are reporting
the Demjanjuk case extensively.
Television has weighed the merits
of the trial for months.
And soon, the actual court case begins.
We're still confident
that justice will be done,
and my father will be exonerated.
And there won't be another...
crucifixion.
[REPORTER, IN HEBREW] Where did
you come from at this early hour?
Ramat Gan.
- [REPORTER] Why?
- Why?
[TAKES A DEEP BREATH]
I told you. I lost them all.
[IN ENGLISH] The three-judge panel
begins hearing the Demjanjuk case
in this courtroom
within the next two hours.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[REPORTER 1, IN HEBREW] Each visitor's
personal details were logged,
and metal objects caused
the metal detector to buzz.
[REPORTER 2]
What would you like the outcome to be?
I want him to hang.
I'd hang him myself.
Or burn him.
[REPORTER 1] A FEW MINUTES AFTER 7:00,
two hours before the trial
is set to begin,
John Demjanjuk is brought in
from Ayalon Prison.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[REPORTER 3, IN ENGLISH] The man
Israelis say is the Butcher of Treblinka
went on trial in Jerusalem today.
[IN HEBREW]
The John Demjanjuk trial began today
at the International Convention Center
in Jerusalem.
[REPORTER 4, IN ENGLISH]
This is so much more
than a trial of one man's guilt.
This is a hearing of history.
When Eichmann was on trial,
my mother made me watch it.
Now Demjanjuk is on trial,
and I want my child to watch it.
This is the only safeguard we have
that it never happens again.
All the research I'd done,
all, everything...
This was the culmination
of years and years.
Here I am,
one or two hours of sleep,
going on adrenaline,
having to be ready.
[SHEFTEL] This is a case of...
establishment atrocity
from bottom to top.
A cover-up and a frame-up...
in a show trial.
[LIGHT SWITCH CLICKS]
[SHEFTEL] I was hundred percent convinced
that Demjanjuk is not Ivan the Terrible.
Yet, I'm convinced hundred percent
that he would be found guilty
and sentenced to death.
But I was sure...
that I would manage
to destroy the show.
[TELEVISION BEEPS]
[CROWD SHOUTING AND CHANTING]
[IN HEBREW] All rise!
[SILENCE FALLS]
Case 3736, State of Israel
vs. John Ivan Demjanjuk.
The accused will rise.
- Please state your name.
- Uh...
[LEVIN] What's your name?
Uh...
[IN UKRAINIAN] Honorable court,
my name is John Demjanjuk.
[LEVIN, IN HEBREW] I must warn you,
that you must tell the truth
and the whole truth.
If you don't,
you will be punished by law.
[IN ENGLISH] John, you're being accused
of being at Treblinka
and participating in the horrendous crimes
at that death killing camp.
Uh, would you tell the court,
at this instance,
what your answer is with regard
to you ever being at that location
and perpetrating any of these crimes?
[MICROPHONE FEEDBACK SQUEALS]
[IN UKRAINIAN] The honorable bench,
I'm accused here of having been
at Treblinka.
This is not true.
I was never either
at Treblinka or Sobibor
or at any other such place.
Because I am not Ivan the Terrible.
And the most just witness to this
is God himself.
I am innocent, innocent, innocent.
[AUDIENCE MURMURS]
[MAN, IN ENGLISH]
I studied Demjanuk's character,
Demjanjuk's reaction.
I realized he will never confess.
He would rather stay and maybe die
as the father and the grandfather
uh, that he was later on in Cleveland.
In every normal criminal case,
you have a scene of crime.
But the Nazis, they have burnt
and destroyed most of the evidence.
The same goes to eyewitnesses.
I mean, most of them were exterminated
by the Germans.
And yet, I have to lead this trial.
[WHISPERS INDISTINCTLY]
[IN HEBREW] The prosecution
would like to invite Pinchas Epstein.
[IN ENGLISH] This trial was filled
with so much passion,
so much pain, and so much history.
Survivors were dying every day.
And this was a last glimpse and effort
to hear them,
to put it in language, and to listen.
[YOUNGER SHAKED, IN HEBREW]
I would ask of you
to start with your date of birth.
I am Epstein Pinchas,
son of Dov and Sara.
I was born in Czestochowa
on March 3, 1925.
I understand that, from the moment
you arrived at the death camp,
you were assigned to carry bodies
from the gas chambers to the pits.
[PINCHAS] Correct.
I sat at a spot where I could see
the engine of the gas chambers.
It was the machine house.
And I saw a man
come out of the gas chamber.
Later, I learned his name was Ivan.
Ivan the Terrible.
[CLEARS THROAT]
[TAKES A DEEP BREATH]
I saw a large man,
and he was operating the engine.
They ordered to open the doors
and take out the corpses.
This Ivan would come out
of the engine room
and beat us with his pipe.
Sometimes he would carry a sword.
And he would crush skulls,
cut ears, and torture the prisoners.
It was unbelievable.
Your Honors, we took out corpses.
It was horrific to see.
People with crushed faces,
people with knife wounds,
pregnant women stabbed in the gut,
people with eyes poked out.
There are no words.
One day a living girl
came out of the gas chambers.
About 12 years old.
HER WORDS STILL RING IN MY EARS:
"Yachtse du mamoshy."
- [LEVIN] What do these words mean?
- [VOICE BREAKING] "I want my mommy."
[CRYING] I have a granddaughter her age.
Then they took her to the pit
and shot her.
Your Honors, I see Ivan every night.
I want to...
My poor wife. I dream of him every night.
I see him every night.
He is engraved in my memory.
I cannot escape him.
I see Ivan here, in front of me,
as I remember him, as he lives in my mind.
There he is, as he stands here!
Here he stands!
[LEVIN] Mr. Epstein!
[AUDIENCE MURMURING]
Age has taken its toll, it's obvious,
but not as much as to not know the man.
I see him, I see him, I see him.
- [MAN] Murderer!
- [IRENE] Shh!
[SHOUTING IN HEBREW]
[TAL] Be seated!
- [CONTINUES SHOUTING]
- [LEVIN SPEAKS HEBREW]
[SHEFTEL, IN ENGLISH]
There is full entitlement
to seek brutal...
merciless revenge
from Ivan the Terrible.
I see a lot of value in revenge
against the proper person,
not against a retired autoworker
which was mistakenly thought
to be Ivan the Terrible...
as a victim of a conspiracy.
[SUSPENSEFUL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]